Dungeons and Detectives
by LostInTheDreams
Summary: Kaito thought he had faced the most difficult of odds in the past, but nothing could compare to being trapped in a game of dungeons and dragons with a bunch of amateurs and a little witch calling all the shots. Is there a way out or will they be trapped forever? Worse, what happens when their hit points reach zero?
1. Into the Game

AN: I have loved playing dungeons and dragons and wanted some way to incorporate it into a story. This IS going by the game rules, though I call it a video game instead- since all the characters need access to it. It follows the rules from 5e and you don't need to know about the game to understand the story.

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 **Chapter 1: Into the Game**

Saguru tried to raise the hood more but his eyes were stinging. He had to blink and even that was painful. Letting out a breath, he settled on closing his eyes.

"Kuroba, where are we?"

He couldn't see his classmate but he could hear him, and better than he should have been able to. The grass made the slightest noise against his feet, his clothes shifted in the breeze.

"Um… a forest, I think. I don't really see any buildings around here. We must be pretty far away."

"What, exactly, happened?"

"Well… I can't say what you were doing but I was just sitting at my computer. Next thing I know I'm blinking sunlight out of my eyes and missing the hot girls I'd been looking at."

Saguru had noticed a few things after he had been forced to shield his eyes. One, yes, he seemed to be in a forest. Apparently he'd somehow been knocked out or the like and taken here. He knew the last thing that _he_ had been doing was reading a book in his room, the low light nothing like the burning pain of the sun. The second was the clock had told him it had been after eight last he checked. It was now clearly some time mid afternoon and he'd somehow lost almost a whole day.

The third, and strangely not the most upsetting, was that the quick glance he'd gotten of Kuroba had told him that something was terribly, terribly wrong, or this was some horrible joke gone too far.

"Kuroba, you do know that your skin looks almost blue, do you not?"

"Take a look at yourself, blackie." He heard a snicker. "Unless you're too afraid to."

Saguru, very slowly, opened his eyes and looked at his hands. He turned them over, finding that he had _actual_ black skin – or close enough to it. He closed his eyes again, putting a hand in front of them.

"Before I start going into shock, do you have any idea what happened?"

"Well… no, not really. Not even a partial guess. I have a bad idea I know where we are though."

Saguru felt the hood be pushed off his head and he winced, half opening his eyes to glare at his classmate and the unforgiving sun.

"Thought so."

"What?" Saguru took the second to put the hood back, blinking a bit in suprise now as well. There was _far_ more wrong with Kuroba than the slight light blue color of his skin. His eyes were a vivid shade of green and his hair was almost white, though clearly more on the silver side, with a strange glint about it that was very similar to his skin.

"Well, I was playing this online game with a few friends when it started getting popular at school. This kind of looks like the forest in the beginning, if you start off as an elf. Aoko had said she wanted to try it so I had come back here, but we didn't have time to make her character yet."

That all sounded very familiar. "Right. She was trying to help me with mine first, though she was giving me little say in the matter. Apparently she hadn't wanted mine to look like yours." He tried to calm his heart rate a bit, forcing his eyes open as he looked over himself. He had strange clothes, similar to Kuroba's but with some green to the outrageous amount of black, making the sun more painful against his skin. He could feel the strap around him and pulled on it, seeing arrows in a quiver.

"I must be dreaming."

"Then we're stuck in the same dream and I really don't want to be stuck in it with you." Kuroba sighed. "The sun's really bothering you, isn't it?"

Saguru nodded.

"I wish I could say this was a dream then, but it's looking less and less like it is and more like someone found a way to mess with us without us knowing. I don't know how or why though, or why it's you and me here together. I know more kids from school were playing than just us."

"I just made a character a few hours ago. Aoko-kun had insisted that I do more than just study, so she spent her time helping me instead of making one of her own." He looked around, trying to figure out the difference between this illusion and the game. How had it been done? Was it Spider? It didn't seem possible. This was… this was far more real than he thought possible. It was reason enough for he and Kuroba to be here, but not enough for them to be experiencing the same thing without knowledge of what they should be seeing, and he doubted the man played computer games.

"We should go inside somewhere. The light will be hurting you until the sun goes down or we get some clouds, if that's how this is working." Kuroba tapped near his eye. "And I have darkvision in the game, so I don't mind walking around with you and figuring this out when you aren't in pain."

"It's not all that bad, as long as I have the hood up and I'm not looking in the direction of the sun."

Saguru felt something all of a sudden. Something seemed to glow around him a moment and he scarcely noticed a similar glow around Kuroba for about the same duration. He looked at his classmate and back at himself. "What was that?"

 _Pick a class_.

The words floated a bit in front of him. Saguru noticed that, as he stood straighter and turned towards them, they shifted once more to remain in his view. He noticed a countdown on the side with something that looked peculiarly like a loading icon. He shook his head, the words moving, showing behind his eyelids even when he blinked. He noticed the 29 under the icon turn into a 28.

"Wow. Talk about a realistic game." Kuroba was smiling. "I already had a character. I wonder why it's asking me. I guess it might just default to that if we don't answer?" His classmate shrugged. "Whatever the heck is going on, this is weird, even for me."

Saguru nodded, though it was hard to see Kuroba with the words in his vision. " _Ranger,_ " he answered the prompt quietly, seeing if it would make the words go away. It did. He had already filled out the character description for the game a few hours ago and remembered most of what he'd been asked.

Now free to look around without hindrance, aside form the drawbacks of his apparent new eyesight, he noticed a pack near his feet. He didn't find it all that heavy as he picked it up and looked through it, finding some basic supplies.

He heard Kuroba sigh, moving once more. "Yeah, it defaulted. Seems I'm a rogue again. Don't you dare say anything."

If they had been playing this as the game it should have been, he might have. Now… everything was confusing and he put a hand to his chest, noticing his breaths coming fast all of a sudden. He felt an arm around his back but it wasn't enough to keep him standing and he noticed himself fall, the burning, bright world going black.

….

Kaito caught Hakuba as the stress got to him. It looked like he blacked out. He took the hood off again, now that Hakuba couldn't protest. Kaito didn't have a mirror to look at himself, so he turned his attention to the detective.

He must have chosen to be a dark elf before this. It explained why the light was hurting him and why his skin was black. The red eyes weren't as strange as they should have been but, with the new skin color, pointed ears, and snow-white hair, the only color to him stood out in eerie fashion. He was happy his eyes were closed now.

"Since he's out, how about I talk to myself for a bit?" Kaito set him down gently, sitting down in the grass beside him. He looked over at Hakuba a moment, looking down at his own dark clothes that possessed no color to break up the monochrome. He had a cloak, which he took off, covering Hakuba's eyes with it. There, that was something.

"So," he said aloud, tipping his head to the side. "We're in a game, or so it seems. This feels too real to be anything other than it is." He touched his now long, pointed ears. Yep, he felt very much like the moon elf that his character had been. "Koizumi-san probably did this. I guess if I hadn't seen real magic, this might have made me pass out too." He looked back up at the sky. "But I don't remember doing anything to her for her to be mad about, and I'm pretty sure Hakuba-kun wouldn't have bothered a girl if the world was ending."

"Are you going to just keep talking to yourself?'

Kaito felt his heart jump into his throat. He hadn't heard anyone coming but then again, they had come from behind and he had been talking to himself. The voice was far more familiar than the small child with flaring red hair and light stone colored skin.

"Now that makes less sense than everything else. Why are you here?"

"I should be asking you that, shouldn't I? Impossible things are more up your alley than mine." The boy tipped his head back to the forest. "Hattori's here too. I just happened to hear you speaking to no one. While that's fun and all, think we can figure out what's going on, Kid? I can't seem to find the trick behind what's making us experience this."

"I look like an elf and you can still tell it's me?"

"I knew who you were before. I looked you up after that whole sunflower fiasco." Conan smirked at him as he tipped his head. "I don't think I would be talking to a stranger now, and I wasn't wholly certain it was you, so be happy I didn't let things lay. At least I didn't go to the police."

Kaito sighed. Tantei-kun was no fun. "I'll deny it to the end of time but, why not? Let's all get together and have fun in this impossibility. Tell him to come here though. I can't really bring Unconscious-san with me and I get the feeling that leaving him here is a bad idea."

Conan nodded, letting out a breath. Kaito met his eye when he looked back up. "We really are inside a game, aren't we?"

"Apparently. Considering I haven't really had the chance to look around, I can't say much. I've only been playing a month or so."

"That's more than me. The kids made me make an account and play just a few days ago. I barely reached level two."

Kaito grinned. "I'm a level nine, but that's not that impressive."

"Were. You're not a spell caster, are you?"

Kaito shook his head. "No, I was in a party with another melee fighter. Neither of us had magic, though I thought about it."

Conan nodded, but he didn't know why. Obviously the little guy understood something better than he did.

"It's the best way I can explain this. Spell casters, obviously, gain spells as they level. I tried casting one I got at level two and nothing happened. My lower level ones are all fine though. I think, when it asked us to pick our class, we were all bumped down to level one again. How _any_ of this makes sense, I don't know, but I did mess around a few minutes ago. It seems we didn't show up that far from one another."

"So… you can use real magic? Show me." Kaito was interested. Sure this might all be some kind of trick, likely was, but things seemed real enough and he was interested.

"I'll use an obvious one, since it's not that hard to tell that I'm a fire elemental." Conan reached out his hand, palm up. " _Al Nir_."

The words sounded really funny when he said them, kind of like there was a background noise to them that he couldn't explain. He did watch as a fire started in his hand, staying there and not seeming to hurt him.

"Cool." Kaito reached forward to touch it himself and Tantei-kun pulled back.

"Are you being stupid?"

"Huh?" Kaito tipped his head to the side, sticking his hands in his pocket, which he seemed to have many of. "What? Don't want me to touch your fire?"

"It's still an attack. You could hurt yourself."

"Produce flame is a weak attack." Kaito didn't have to be a spell caster to recognize the spell. He'd heard the wording before and any level one caster that wanted to light a fire would openly cast it.

"Yes, if you were a level nine. You're a level one now, and I can't tell if hit points are still dictating life or death here. You sure you want to risk it?" Kaito could swear he saw a flame behind the small detective's blue eyes as he return his hand to where it had been, daring him to touch it now.

"I'm good." Kaito would have rose to the jib on any other given day, but too many weird things were going on now.

The strange, child-like laughter that floated from out of nowhere didn't help the already confusing situation.

Kaito and the small detective both turned as something shimmered before them, slowly turning into a small, hooded figure. Their red robe covered most of them but the girl didn't waste much time pushing the hood back, revealing dark, purple-tinted hair and familiar red eyes. She couldn't have been any older than the detective at his side – or at least, the detective's current age.

"I've got you now. My magic may not be strong enough to affect you, but if you ingest it I can trap you somewhere else that can do my work for me."

Kaito put a hand on his hip, a smile on his face. "You're related to Koizumi-san, aren't you?" This girl was far too young to be her, any version of her, and her skin was darker than his classmates by enough that it made the similarities they shared meaningless. That helped, along with the fact that there weren't that many people he knew that could cast magic as real as this.

"Yes," the young girl stated proudly, putting her hands on her hips. "And you've been bothering her for a long time, so I did this." She put her arms up, indicating to the world around her. "This place is full of monsters that can take care of you for me, and just in case that didn't work, I left a few of your enemies in here too." She pointed a finger at him and grinned. "And you lose!"

With some more childlike laugher that was close to sounding maniacal, the girl was again slowly vanished from before them, like smoke rising, before it was silent once more.

"Ah, wait…" It was pointless. She was gone as fast as one could light a match and then blow it out. He didn't even get her name.

What a very short and to the point explanation.

Kaito waited until he was sure she was gone before letting out a breath. Hopefully Akako would notice what had happened and get them out. This wasn't her style and it looked like they could really die here, if they were forced to play by the rules of this game. His character had died plenty of times in the last month – or at least, been unconscious and could very easily have died. He'd never had to start all over, but that was because, as a party, he'd never lost.

Kaito looked down at the little guy. "Sorry about this. Looks like you were dragged in here because of me."

Conan shrugged. "You give me answers and maybe I can do something about that."

"Sure." Why not? It wasn't as of the little detective would believe in real magic. He was up for an exercise in futility. "For now it's safe to guess that we're playing by this game's rules, so no throwing fire at anyone."

"I already figured that out. You were the curious kitten, trying to get yourself burned."

Kaito rolled his eyes and looked back down at Hakuba. "We should get to town. I'm not sure if we have the money that we should have started out with, or how far skills we have will take us."

Conan nodded. "I'm guessing the burglar's pack is yours. That black one, right? I had a few coins in mine but I wasn't exactly a rich character when I started this. If skills stay with us though, I can probably get us a place to stay without wasting gold."

"Hm?" Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, worth a try. Hakuba-kun's going to be heavy though, and it will look weird going into town with him."

"Hattori can do it, as long as we can get him to agree to. Getting him here and getting an explanation out of you is going to come first. Stay here. Just because I'm coming back isn't reason for you to run off, and I know you were thinking about it. If this is real, being in a party is the safest."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not an idiot." Kaito scratched the back of his head, watching Conan nod and walk back off into the forest. He had a very good point there. This wasn't the kind of game you could solo. Two people in a group, even with weak opponents, was just short of deadly unless you buffed up you defense to the max. Even then it would be close.

Unlike Hakuba, Conan, and likely himself, from what he could see of himself, Hattori-kun was easy to recognize, even if he hadn't come through the trees with the newly fire-haired detective. He looked like himself, save for maybe his hair being a few shades lighter and eyes close to matching.

Kaito laughed to himself a little. "Who picks a human?"

"Shut up." Hattori didn't look too happy, crossing his arms and glancing around. His eyes went back to him after. "So who are you?"

Kaito looked down at Conan who just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Being introduced as Kid to someone like Hattori was the worst idea he could possibly think of, and he was happy Tantei-kun had given him a way out, even if he hadn't thought he would.

"Kuroba Kaito. Nice to meet you." Kaito tipped his head back towards Hakuba. "I'm a classmate of Hakuba-kun."

"Hakuba-kun?" Hattori walked over to the detective. He had to admit, Hakuba looked nothing like himself when his hairstyle was hidden. "The heck?"

"Dark elf," Kaito explained. "Not a lot of people pick human or dark elf, because of the drawbacks in either nighttime battles or day."

"As if I was goin' ta be an elf. I'm not that kinda guy." Hattori grinned, drawing a rapier and putting it over his shoulder. Kaito could tell by the thicker metal armor that he had on, like the light stuff the three of them were wearing under their clothes, that Hattori had picked an 'up close and personal' class.

"Monk, paladin, fighter, or berserker?"

"Fighter, though I ain't really got much right now. Looks like I was playin' little longer than K-ku-Conan-kun. Already had most 'a my stuff down 'fore I lost it all."

Kaito put a hand to his chin. "Why bring you into this game though? I don't really know you and you don't really know me."

"She said 'ingest' just now, right?" Conan leveled a look at Hattori. "I was given a cupcake in my locker after school. Hattori decided to visit and ate it while he caught me walking home. I found another one the next day. I'm guessing that had something to do with it."

"Ah!" Kaito hit his fist against his cupped palm. "Someone gave me a cupcake too." He looked down at the little guy. "Girls like to give me things some of the time though, so I hadn't thought it was anything weird."

Conan just shook his head. Kaito had nothing to say back to that. If anyone had given Hakuba anything, he likely would have ate it to be polite, more so if Akako's family member that trapped them here had simply gone up to him with it.

"That answers a little bit, but I'm not really sure how we got here or how we're supposed to get out. That girl just now is related to a friend of mine, someone who has real magic. I know you're not going to believe me but look around and tell me this isn't real." He reached down and tugged a little on Conan's pointed ear. "Hopefully Koizumi-san notices she did this to us and gets us out. Other than that, I have no idea what to do."

"Not die would be a good idea, and hands off." Conan rubbed his palm against his ear. It made Kaito smile. As weird as it was, being in a world full of magic and adventure with the detectives kind of sounded like fun.

"So… you're a wizard, I'm a rogue," Kaito said as he pointed to himself. "You're a fighter… and I think Hakuba-kun said he was a ranger. That's… that's horrible. We have no healer." He had to laugh to himself. "That's pretty important to have, but I guess since we all do pretty good damage, we don't really need one. Hattori-kun, if anything happens, you're up front. You have the best armor."

"Duh, I figur'd that." Hattori tapped a finger against his armor. "But this is still startin' stuff. I'm guessin' we're not gonna play the game but try and keep ourselves out of danger 'till this gets settled. Goin' ta town seems the best idea."

"Yeah." Kaito patted the spot on his chest where he was missing his basic ammo that he'd kept with him. "I need a bow for one, my character didn't come with one, and darts."

"I jus' need better armor, but I ain't got enough gold fer it."

Kaito grinned. "I have a charlatan background. I should have enough to get you what you need, and I can make some on the side if I need more."

He heard the little detective laugh at him. "You know, the point of role-playing is to be someone you're _not_."

Kaito huffed and shrugged. "I've played the bad guy before. It's not fun."

"Help!"

Kaito jumped, hearing the sound of twigs snapping, footsteps thudding loudly through the forest. There were more than a few other voices mixed with the female one he had heard, quickly turning into words that he couldn't understand.

He noticed a shift near him, Hakuba seeming to wake up and take the robe off his face. "Goblins."

"What?"

Hakuba met his gaze, his eyes scared and serious at the same time. "Those are goblins. Can't you hear them?"

"Well of course I can, but how the heck do you know what they're saying?"

"He's a ranger, right?" The little detective shifted, a flame coming back in his hand. "I guess he must have learned to speak goblin. I had a few languages myself, and I can hear them too."

"Great. I got no idea what they're sayin' but I bet it ain't good." Hattori shifted in front of Conan and Kaito ducked back, trying to get Hakuba to stand up. He was sure the detective would be zero use in combat, seeing as he didn't get any of that explanation and likely thought this was all still some dream. He didn't want him going into shock again.

"We have to hide," he told him, trying to get his arm under him.

Hakuba stood halfway before a girl broke through the tress, falling into Hattori-kun's arms.

"Please help me!"

Kaito didn't miss the goblin faces all starting to stick out behind the trees, small, dark skinned creatures with long noises, tattered clothes, and yellowed, pointed, teeth.

"Shit."


	2. The Quest

**AN** : For the sake of my sanity, what little of it is left, spells will be spoken for what they are, even though they should be in a spell caster only language. (This doesn't come up right now because Conan is whispering them, but it will come up again)

Also, this story will be a bit slower going because I'm actually rolling and playing the game. That's why the chapters are shorter as well, though I'll try and make them longer.

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 **Chapter 2: The Quest**

Kaito noticed that the goblins were closing in on the girl and seeming to ignore him. Hakuba was able to get to his feet and he helped him as the both of them backed up. Kaito frowned, seeing a few numbers flash in his face. The first had been a fourteen, the second clearly an eight with a plus sign. He watched the faint numbers add together and form twenty-two before fading.

" _What was that?"_ he heard Hakuba whisper next to him.

" _Don't know. What did you see?"_

" _An eighteen, a five, and then a twenty three."_

Hm. They'd seen different numbers. Kaito wanted to laugh. Was that the generator for his stealth setting?

If so, they'd both gotten rather high. He could get Hakuba out of here, or at least further away. He could make out at least five goblins between the trees, all coming forward on the other two detectives and the woman, who was likely an NPC. If she wasn't, this game was about to get really hard. He hadn't remembered this happening before.

" _I've got to go."_ Kaito knew that he could do decent damage as a rogue, even at level one, as long as he attacked first. Combat had already started, so he wouldn't be able to get in a surprise, but he could at least have advantage. Hattori couldn't take them alone and Conan was far too close for a wizard to be anything other than a great target.

Feeling around, Kaito found his short sword and his rapier. They had been what he had picked when he had first played. The issue with that now was that he couldn't hold them both at the same time at the level he was at now. He searched around a bit more, finding two daggers in the inner part of the clothes he was wearing. He drew one and the sword, slowly moving over to one of the goblins that was closer to Tantei-kun. They were easy enough to beat, even at level one, but there _were_ five of them. If they ganged up on the other two, the ugly things wouldn't lose.

Conan moved before he could, backing up and speaking something under his breath. Kaito watched as something that looked almost like lightning came out of his hands and was aimed at the same goblin he was going for. It missed, going over his shoulder, and the goblin grinned.

" _Kisama_ ," he heard the detective mutter, taking a few more steps back. He couldn't blame the guy. As a wizard, he had no armor. It was why Kaito hadn't chosen that class, since not a lot of people played as late as he would, so there would be less options for a party.

Kaito didn't waste much time after that, going behind the goblin and swinging his short sword at it. He watched it cut through the leather armor under it's tattered clothes, the creature screaming as it bled. He knew this was just a game, but the scream got to him. The creature fell to the ground and Kaito hoped, for some reason, that he hadn't killed it. He still had another attack and moved a bit to stab the other goblin that had turned to face him when its partner had screamed.

He nearly tripped as the goblin ducked out of the way, a cruel smirk on its face if he ever saw one. The next second Hattori-kun came up behind it, stabbing it through with his rapier. Like the first, he heard the goblin scream in pain and fall limply to the floor. Hattori's wide, now brown eyes, were staring at him, as if he didn't believe what he had done. Kaito had to admit he was in a similar kind of shock.

Kaito almost got hit by the arrow zooming by his face, the goblin a few feet from it noticing it and raising its shield. The arrow fell away harmlessly and Kaito turned to see Hakuba with the bow he had had on his back, half hidden behind one of the tress.

"You idiot! You can't fight in the daylight!"

"And I can't just watch you fight either!"

That was a fair enough point but if their attacks were being based on the mechanics of the game, and every move they make was in the power of luck, Hakuba would always be at a disadvantage in the light.

He didn't have much time to think about any of this though, as the goblin that had blocked the arrow came up to him and swung at him with its scimitar.

Kaito dodged it, letting out a breath, seeing one of the remaining goblins go for Hattori, while the other one went for the easier target that Tantei-kun presented.

He hadn't thought he'd have to worry about Hattori. The guy had better armor than the rest of them so he should have been harder to hit. He heard him scream though, saw blood on his arm that stained the metal, seeing the dark skinned detective shift to hide the injury better. Kaito watched, the number twelve showing up over Hattori's head for a moment, counting down until it said eight and disappeared.

Jeez, their lives really were based on hit points.

Kaito's heart nearly stopped when the little detective cried out, no armor to stop the weapon for him. He saw an eight above his head, count down until it reached a two and then vanished as well.

"Shit! You idiot! Run away!"

There was a large bleeding gash across Conan's chest that had all but destroyed his clothes and was quickly staining what wasn't damaged a bright red. He saw the boy's eyes fade a moment before he shook it off. "I only have one more attack anyway, and then I'm relying on weaker spells. I don't want to give them a chance to get us."

Kaito felt his heart sink as Conan raised his hands like he had last time and the lightning returned. Even at close range, the light seemed to miss, either because it was forced to or Tantei-kun just wasn't in good enough condition to be casting it.

Clenching his teeth, Kaito shifted. The goblin on him would have a chance to attack him but there wasn't anything he could do about that. He ran to the little detective, leaving himself open to do so.

He couldn't help a scream of his own as the blade cut into his side. He kept going, trying to ignore it for now, seeing numbers in front of him. He watched as a nine counted down to a three and swore to himself, gaining advantage on the enemy that was after the little detective as he swung with his own sword.

Tearing easily through its armor, the creature fell to the floor while Kaito winced, holding a hand to his side. He turned, taking his dagger and throwing it at the goblin on Hattori. He saw it hit, diving deep into the creature's skin, under it's armor, while the thing yelped and tried to pull it out.

Hattori swung and missed at it as it danced around, trying to remove the blade, and another arrow came way too close to his face. This time it hit the goblin in the throat as it twirled, felling the thing.

Kaito's eyes turned to the goblin that had stuck him, fear in its eyes though an obvious blood lust there as well, as it stared at the red staining their clothes. Kaito turned to face it as it ran at him, dodging the thing's attack.

"Just in case, hold your breath!"

Kaito didn't need to be told twice and held his breath as Conan put his hand towards the goblin, catching it in some weird green cloud. _Everything comes out of his hands, doesn't it? That can be problematic at some point,_ Kaito thought as the creature choked on the gas. Hattori stabbed it while it was choking and, like it's brethren, it fell to the floor.

Kaito looked around, not trusting that there weren't more of them. He noticed the others do so as well, hearing nothing but the girl that had run through the forest crying.

Letting out a held in breath, Kaito dropped to his knees and stated trying to calm his breathing. He winced, putting a hand to his ribs where the cut to his back had reached. He looked up to see the little detective back up and lean against a nearby tree as well, with a hand to his own wound.

"Well, that could'a gone better." Hattori went into his pack, wiping off his sword with a cloth before putting it back in the sheath it had been in. Kaito peeked at his own weapon, seeing it coated in blood. His dagger was somewhere in one of the goblins still.

"That really hurt," Kaito said to no one, falling back and onto his butt.

"I'm sorry." Hakuba came closer to them, his face mostly hidden by his shadowed hood due to the heavy amount of sunlight. "I wasn't much help."

"You took one of them down, that's something. Don't worry about it."

"Wait here." Hakuba turned and ran off. There wasn't much Kaito could do anyway so he let him, turning to the girl, who seemed a lot more real than she should have. The goblins did too.

"Are you okay?"

The cries tapered off and the girl turned to them. She had fair skin though she was on the shorter side, blue eyes and dark hair. "Yes, thank you. I'm sorry you all were hurt. Those goblins found me while I was looking for one of the horses that had gotten loose. Thank you."

"You're are most welcome. Do you think we could trouble you for a place to stay? Just for a night or two?" Kaito wasn't about to pass up a place to rest and relax right now, and they needed to buy time. A house didn't seem like a place to get attacked.

"Um… just the three of you, or all four?"

"All four, if we could."

"Well, I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but we really don't have the room. There's some space in the stables, if you'd be okay with that."

"That's more than fine. Thank you." Kaito stood but standing hurt. He meet Conan's eyes once more, seeing how dazed the guy still was. Yes, they needed rest. "We'll have to wait for Hakuba-kun."

Waiting, apparently, wasn't his strong point. He had no watch to tell time but he had to figure it was close to an hour before the detective showed back up.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure how hard it would be. The sunlight… didn't help." Hakuba knelt down, several different types of grasses in his hand, a few flowers, and some things that looked like mushrooms. Kaito watched as he took out a small wooden box from his pack that had been laid out on the side. He was even more surprised by the vials Hakuba pulled out, watching him grind up the grass and mix this or that.

"What are you doing?"

"Making medicine… I think. It's hard to explain. I know I should know how to do it, so I think that I want to do it, and it just kind of happens." He watched Hakuba shrug.

"How are you able to do that? I thought you were a ranger. That doesn't come with that class."

"I, ah… I'm a hermit." With the black skin he wasn't sure if Hakuba was blushing or not. "I figured it would be better to have a healing ability or something, but since my character's isn't very impressive and I don't get it until later, I figured being able to _make_ something to heal would work too. I don't really have a lot of people I could play this game with, and since Aoko-kun hadn't been sure what she wanted to be, I wanted to be able to help."

Hakuba picked up a bottle, swirling it around in the sunlight and Kaito watched him wince before looking down and handing it over. "Here. Here's one. I hope it works. I'm sorry, I can't work so well right now."

"It's okay." Kaito took it, going over to Tantei-kun. He was hurt the worst. "How does it work? Do I put it on the wound or does he drink it?"

"It's a potion, not a salve. He drinks it."

Kaito nodded, handing it to Conan and the boy taking it, sniffing it and looking at it a bit before drinking it. He stopped after a sip and had to cough.

"Hakuba-niisan, this stuff is disgusting."

Kaito was sure Hakuba smirked while he was working on a second one. "I'm sure it does. You don't want to know what's in it. Please, finish it. It won't work otherwise."

Conan went back to drinking it and Kaito watched as the numbers came back in his vision. They climbed back to eight where it flashed green a moment before vanishing.

Kaito was far more surprised that the wound on the little guy's chest was completely gone.

"Wow, that stuff really works."

"I can only make it now because we're in the forest. There are plenty of ingredients around here, though one of the herbs I need is rather rare. I can only make one more. I'm sorry, Hattori-kun, but Kuroba-kun is more injured."

"Don' worry. It's not really botherin' me." Hattori tapped his chest where there was the small wound that had made it through his armor. He noticed a bit of blood on the dark-skinned detective as well but said nothing, taking the potion when Hakuba was done and drinking it as well.

"Besides being worse than sewage, this stuff works better than any energy drink I've ever had." Having downed it as fast as he could to taste it for as little as possible, Kaito handed the bottle back to Hakuba, completely pain free. "Thanks."

"No problem. At least I was able to do something." Hakuba packed away the kit and turned to Hattori. "I'll look for the herb again tomorrow, to make some more in case. For tonight I can bandage that up for you."

"It's fine." Hattori waved the detective off a second time. "While you were gone we gotta place ta stay. If it's in a town, I kin just get better amror an' we don' gotta worry about it again. You guys should probably get some new clothes too."

Kaito looked at his own blood stained traveling clothes and shrugged. "That's why black is so awesome. Hey, wizard-san, do you know the mending spell?"

Conan shook his head. "I have prestidigitation, but I can only cast it once, and it's a short term fix." The little guy put a hand to his chest and Kaito watched it glow of a moment before most of the blood on his clothes vanished, leaving only the ripped material. "We'll just have to buy new clothes. I don't think I can change my spells until we level."

"Yeah, level." Kaito rubbed his chin. "I wonder how that works. I didn't see any numbers once they were defeated."

Conan shrugged and Kaito saw Hakuba go past him, once all his stuff was packed away and on his back, helping the girl up.

"Oh well. Since we're trying to stay out of danger, I guess it shouldn't matter."

"I assumed we were trying to stay out of danger, but this is a lot to take in. What's going to happen? Where are we going to go? I don't even have a guess at how to get out of here." Hakuba looked back at him. Kaito had to explain a bit to the other two about Koizumi, and he needed to explain to Hakuba what the guy had missed while he'd been unconscious.

"Well talk when we're back at her place. The forest is the main area for spawning." Kaito held his dagger out, even as he put his sword away. Drawing two weapons at once was hard and he seemed to be the only one who used more than one. "Or it used to be. I don't remember her or the goblins before."

Conan nodded. "I played just recently and I didn't get this story. Quests and missions were all in the nearby town."

"I haven't even played the game." Hakuba let out a breath. "I suppose, since the rest of you have and it is not conforming in the same manner, then I can get along well enough." Hakuba was still holding the girl's hand, though she was looking at him funny. Kaito decided now as a good time to shut up and follow the two of them out of the woods, the others falling in line beside or behind him.

Kaito was expecting the small town from the game, a few houses here or there, and a quest that would get the story line of the game going. What he saw made his eyes widen, carts and merchants coming and going from a very large town, no bordering walls that he expected, that would stop either invaders or monsters. He could see a few tall buildings in the center but couldn't tell what they were. The only large town he'd been in, in game, had been near the coast. The starting forest hadn't been near the water.

The girl took them into town and they got more than a few looks, though he could see other bands of strange characters, some of the same race while others, like their own, were a mix. He kept his hands in his pocket though he felt the odd urge to reach out and take something from whomever he passed. He fought hard to resist that urge, his hands tight fists in his pocket.

" _You okay_?" he heard Conan ask. He looked down at the little guy and nodded, taking in and letting out a breath.

" _Yeah. Rogue, you know? Apparently this game takes our classes further than I thought it would. I guess I'm not choosing the path for this class I had last time. I don't want to know what that would make me do."_

Conan smirked. " _I think I know what you mean. While being a wizard is fine, I'm a fire elemental. It's making me want to… make things not so boring. I guess it's easier for me because of my alignment though. You're not evil, are you?"_

Kaito shook his head. " _Not even neutral. I'm good. The problem is, I'm chaotic. I'm hoping my own personality has some say in this weird universe."_

" _It does. You haven't stolen anything yet. That shows we can control our actions, even if we have new impulses."_

That was kind of good to know. The bad thing was his thoughts went back to that fight. They had all acted because they hadn't wanted to be killed. Some weird instinct had kicked in. If they hesitated now, he wondered if it would affect their speed in battle. The enemy wouldn't wait while they decided whether they wanted to attack or not.

"Here." The girl stopped at a small house next to a blacksmith shop, where Kaito could see a man working under a wooden outcropping, hammering away at a piece of metal. "This is my house. I'm sorry that I don't have room for all of you, but thank you so much for saving me." The girl smiled, moving her hand out to her side. "The barn is around back. It will at least provide you shelter. I can make you breakfast but I'm afraid I can't offer you more."

"That's perfectly fine." Kaito waved his hand. He had more than enough gold, or should. He hadn't gone into his pack yet. If Hakuba had his stuff, odds were his were still there too. Besides, it wasn't like they needed money and food was good enough. "Thanks for the place to stay. We shouldn't be here long. Don't go bothering any more goblins."

The girl nodded before looking back toward the forest. "It is too bad I couldn't even find the horse. My father will be angry with me."

Kaito looked back towards the forest. Who knew what else was in there? Hattori was still hurt and bleeding here _did_ hurt as if it were real. For intensive purposes, it probably was. "Sorry."

"I can look." Hakuba turned his head his way, looking to him as if he were the leader if this rag tag group of detectives. "I _am_ a ranger. How dangerous is the forest?"

"I can't be sure now, since it's a different forest." Kaito didn't like the idea of the detective going back in there. Searching while trying to hide wasn't all that possible and it would be slow going. He knew his own character was no good at it and he doubted a fighter or wizard would be any better. " _Hakuba-kun, it's a horse, in a video game might I add. We can leave it be."_

Hakuba shrugged. "So you plan on sitting around all day? I assume you have no options about getting out, and you can talk just as well as walk. I would like what explanation you have to give and accomplish something at the same time."

Kaito let out a defeated breath. Well, he had a point. It wasn't like it would hurt them, and they could always run away. "Why not? We have a place to stay now." Kaito turned back to the girl and nodded. "What color was the horse? Did it have any reigns on it when it ran off?" They'd have to rope it or something if it didn't.

The girl nodded. "Yes, I always make sure to put them on when I'm taking the horses out of the stall. He's a dark brown male. Are you sure that you'll be okay to look for him though? I can't promise you anything in return."

"Yeah, it'll be fine. It's not like we have anything better to do right now." Kaito looked back at the other two. "You coming too?"

"Why not?" Hattori shrugged. "Mind lettin' me pick up some better armor though? I don't want to get my butt kicked again."

"Sure." Kaito still needed to pick up a few things too. "Mind telling us where you sell weapons and armor around here?"


	3. My Kingdom for a Horse

**Chapter 3: My Kingdom for a Horse**

Hattori had to borrow a lot more of his money than Kaito was expecting. He found himself grifting out on the streets near the main road. He wasn't about to go running into these people anytime soon and passersby were the safest to swindle. It wasn't like they were real people. It was all part of the game and it seemed that, in this game, they really _did_ need the gold.

By the time he got back he barely had enough to buy some darts, extra daggers, and a short bow.

"Jeez. You had more gold than me and you still wiped us both out."

"Yeah, well." Hattori tapped his new splint mail. "Had ta. I was gettin' hit too much. Ain't like we were gonna spend it on anything else."

" _A long bow would have been nice_ ," Kaito grumbled. He had more than enough to get by with those and he wouldn't be using a bow much unless he had to. "Let's hope that we don't run into anything. How sneaky are you?"

"Ah, sneaky?"

Kaito sighed and turned to the little guy. "What about you?"

He was surprised when he got the same look of confusion from Conan. Jeez, this was going to be difficult.

"I haven't played long but I'm assuming you mean stealth. I'm skilled in it and fairly decent, I believe." Hakuba spoke up. "Though I am not able to afford the better armor and am at a disadvantage for it."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I knew that already. You hid when I did when the goblins showed up. That's what those numbers were, I think. I'm good at it too, which is where the plus came from. With big and clanky over here in his new armor, it's still way worse than you. The horse will hear us coming from miles away, and so will anything else."

"I ain't staying back here."

"We're going to look for a horse," Kaito spoke again, a little more serious. "It's not like we're going to go invading a castle or investigating any ruins. Hakuba-kun's likely the only one who can even find the damn thing, as unskilled as we are right now."

"I'm going to have to agree with both of you. This isn't a game, not right now." Conan looked at him and then to Hattori. "Heiji-niichan, you're the most heavily armored, which would help if we got into a fight. You are also slower and louder though. Normally in this case I'd recommend you two go alone but if you run into a problem two of you won't be enough." The little guy sighed. "In any case either decision is a bad one but one of them are obviously going to be agreed on. If I had to pick one, I say that it's that we leave you behind. Sorry, Heiji-niichan, but you're hurt. As much of a better defender as you are, everyone's doing about the same amount of damage right now."

"Or more," Kaito spoke up, shrugging a little afterwards when he felt eyes on him.

"Or more," Conan agreed. "Unfortunately I'm not much for the wilderness and my defense is next to non-existent. Hakuba-niisan also had the disadvantage of not being able to see or hit well. If we do things with a group of three, Kuroba-niisan, you'll have to be on point and follow where Hakuba-niisan says to go. Since we're short on communication devices, that will be made very difficult."

Kaito shrugged. "That sounds better than anything else and I can stay close and look for enemies while he looks for the horse."

Conan turned to Hattori. "Heal up and we'll be back. Kuroba-niisan is right, and that it is just a horse. If get into any trouble we can always run away. This isn't about winning the game or getting experience points."

"Ya sure?"

Kaito watched as they shared some unspoken conversation for a few dozen seconds and both nodded. "Don't worry, I wouldn't leave him behind, not for a horse anyway."

Hakuba chuckled. "No, that would be counterproductive. This is all still a lot to accept. I think finding the horse will be a good way of helping me get used to it, along with seeing if you can use any skills such as tracking the way I can."

"I'm not skilled in it but I should be able to do basic stuff. It all relied on dice rolls before. It looks like it's the same now." This would be a nice and easy way to test out the game mechanics now that it was kind of real. Hakuba had a point. "Well, lead the way."

…

Conan followed Hakuba and Kuroba. He didn't know either of them well, or at least, not well enough to be having his life possibly riding in their hands. Both were competent and friendly – for the most part – and he was going to be relying on that until all of this was over.

Watching Hakuba bend over and touch the dirt or the grass here or there, sometimes a tree, was interesting. He tried the same, a small number appearing in the corner of his vision and startling him until he became accustomed to it. Hakuba would see footsteps where he'd see dirt mounds, disturbed brush he only saw another section of forest. It was very interesting, the ranger class. It was much more investigative than the wizard and he felt oddly jealous. If it hadn't been the kids who had gotten him into the game and forced him to make pretty much the first thing he had stumbled across, he probably would have been the other class. Wizards were all about gathering information too but they didn't seem as good at it.

"Kuroba-kun," Hakuba called out, hopefully at a volume that wouldn't carry too far. "You're too much to the east. We have to head north-west."

"Jeez."

Conan jumped, the other teen simply falling out of the trees and beside them, startling both of them by the looks of it. "I said I'd be close. You don't have to shout."

"You also can refrain from jumping out of trees," Hakuba spat back.

Conan simply stood straight again, his hands going down to his side. "Find anything?"

"Yeah, that's why I came back." Kuroba tipped his head backwards, the way they were heading. "There's a pond up there. I didn't notice anything around. I've been traveling by trees since the forest is dense enough to. It's pretty large to go around and I'm half thinking the horse found it's way to water."

That was highly possible. Conan shrugged. "Might as well check it out. If we find the horse, maybe you all can stay a bit longer with the girl and her father."

He knew he was getting funny looks and met the other's eyes. "What?"

"Why not you?" Kuroba asked. "You're not staying there with us?"

He shook his head. "No. I told you I didn't have to and if I can get a bed instead, I'm going to get a bed. This feels real enough that I don't want to be itching for the next week or so."

"Don't think just because you're a little kid that they'll help you… Actually, they might. This story is pretty realistic compared to what it was when I was playing."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. That NPC didn't sound as rehearsed as the few I ran into so far."

Kuroba shrugged. "I guess we have to figure out and live with the differences for now. I assume beating this game is going to get us out but I'd rather not rely on that. Learning the basics is smart, because I just _know_ something will happen if we sit still forever, but three non-healers running into a hoard of bandits or orcs or something like that won't be good."

"You're both perceptive and can hide. I can run if I have to." Conan looked around. "Besides, with you scouting out ahead, that's not going to happen now, is it? This was your plan."

"Yeah, I know. Looking for a horse doesn't sound all that dangerous but I've played this game a lot longer than you. There are things that _eat_ horses, and they could turn and eat us instead. That's the kind of game this is. Sometimes you go looking for trouble, the other half of the time trouble finds you."

"That sounds overly complex for a game. In any case, sitting here won't do us any good." Conan started to walk forward and Kuroba put a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. "What?"

"At least _try_ to hide while you walk. Hakuba-kun, you can do that now too since you aren't going to be searching until we reach the pond-lake thing I found."

Hakuba nodded but Conan had to frown. "Hide? Like, behind trees as we walk? That will take forever."

Kuroba shook his head. "You've _never_ hid in this game?"

Conan simply stared at him, getting a sigh in response.

"Just say you're going to hide. You'll see numbers. There aren't any monsters here and we won't be hiding from each other. Tell me what numbers you get when they show up. It means something's looking at us."

"I'm going to hide," Conan heard Hakuba say before he repeated the words, feeling a bit stupid.

Contrary to what he had said, they simply walked through the woods. He noticed that, while Hakuba and Kuroba were both elves in this game, Hakuba's footsteps were so quiet he could barely hear him. That made him stop before they broke the line of the forest. "Why are you not making _any_ noise?"

Hakuba turned his head for a moment. "Oh, that's because of where we are. I'm a ranger. I have the forest as my area of expertise. I suppose that's why it's easier for me to move quietly in it. It's why it's so easy for me to tell where the horse went as well. I can pick up the trail again, if it's not near the water, fairly easily. The only drawback is the sunlight."

"We could always stay out here until nightfall," Kuroba suggested. "We can all see in the dark just fine and it would make it easier on your eyes."

"I'll be fine." Hakuba started the group walking again and Conan carried on. He hadn't remembered much about his character besides his spells. His race could probably do something, along with his class. As a wizard, he probably only had those spells though. It would make sense. He knew he had a fire spell for the race he was too. He'd have to remember to use it instead of the poison if he ran out of magic this time.

Conan exited first with Hakuba, looking around. He narrowed his eyes, everything having a strange green hue to it for a moment. It scared him and he had to rub them, making sure he was okay. He looked forward again, squinted, and once more saw a green hue over the landscape. "Well, that's new."

"Perception. I had to use it tracking the horse. I had thought you all noticed it before me." Hakuba stepped forward and near the water, bending down. "Let's see if I can't tell what's been here recently."

"Ow!"

Conan turned as Kuroba started to exit the clearing as well, trying to keep himself hidden. He couldn't fail to notice the bit of blood on his leg that hadn't been there before, or the number over his head change from a nine to seven. Besides the blood there was a strange, twig like creature that had been part of the bush… No, there were a few of them and they _were_ the bush. "Get out of there!"

"I can't you idiot!" Kuroba yelled back, numbers temporarily blocking Conan's vision before they settled on a twenty.

Conan put his hand up, holding back a moment. He could attack them but Kuroba was in the middle. If he did anything that targeted more than one enemy, Kuroba would get hit too. That meant he had to rely on the less powerful spells again, since he had used all his stronger ones earlier. "Damn it! You're in my way." He swiped his hand outward from himself in a straight light. " _Poison Spray."_

The green mist attacked one of the creatures that were closest to him. He didn't know if the creature could breath but apparently it worked as a great weed killer. The twig thing squirmed around before falling to the floor, lifeless.

Hakuba pulled off something far more incredible. He barely noticed him moving over his shoulder as his spell faded, an arrow coming from behind him and striking another twig creature that split apart as it died. Kuroba was out and defending himself with his two weapons, somehow missing the creatures before they turned on him again, two more rips appearing in his pants as the number over his head went do to three and then negative one.

Conan watched Kuroba fall before the twig monsters, as tiny and non-threatening as they seemed. His eyes widened, heart rate momentarily high enough to make a doctor worry.

None of them had died before. He was hoping that none of them would have to. They had to get to Kuroba, _now_.

Conan was worried about his spell but if Kuroba was already dead there was no helping him. He stuck his hands out, barely stopping himself before slashing his hand forward as he had done before and casting the pervious spell once more. While he didn't mind hurting Kid, he wasn't about to burn him, possibly alive.

The poison took out another twig creature as Hakuba once more fired an arrow, this one barely missing.

He should have been thinking more. Hakuba had armor, he didn't. They should have been in different spots. The twig creatures wasted little time moving on to him after Kuroba fell, stabbing at him. He was thankfully able to dodge out of the way of all but one and cried out a bit when it's claws dug into his skin. He watched the numbers in his eyes change from an eight to a four, his energy seeming to go with them.

 _Jeez, one of them, just one, had taken away half his life._

"Conan-kun, the fact that I'm hitting anything at all right now is a miracle. We have to get out of here."

Conan knew that. It was his turn, technically. He could disengage and run. He didn't think the things would follow him. They'd be leaving Kuroba alone then, and he was sure with them gone that their attention would go back to him. He wasn't dead yet, not by game standards. They could still save him. With that fact in his mind, there was no way he could run.

"Now that that idiot's out of the way…" Conan couldn't hit them all but he could hit two of them. He held his hands out in front of himself, touching his thumbs together and watching as the flames started to appear on them. This was his one shot a day attack and he had to hope it got them both. " _Burning hands."_

He watched the one on his right, between the line of fire he was throwing out, burn up in seconds. The other one moved slightly out of the way, missing the fire as it petered out of existence.

Shoot, he'd only gotten one of them.

He watched Hakuba take another shot and missed, swearing to himself. Conan closed his eyes a moment, trying to see if he could somehow not get hit.

Luck must have been on his side because he was able to sidestep both of their tiny, sharp little claws, sweeping his hand back out now that it was the only good attack to relay on again " _Poison Spray."_

Again, a twig creature fell before his poison and he turned to face the last as an arrow struck it and downed the final creature.

Conan quickly turned, looking around once more, seeing the hue and focusing his attention on the brush now. He could see several other fake bushes spread out on the path but none of the creatures making them up seemed to want to join in the fight.

He let out a breath, his vision fading back to normal as he watched Hakuba drop down near Kuroba, checking him over.

"His breathing, but barely." The blond looked around the clearing. "I can try and find more plants but with these creatures around the forest, I don't know if I dare now. We should head back. Bringing Hattori-kun along looks like it would have been the better idea."

"He can only blame himself for that. Besides, he had a point. If it had been anything other than an attack bush, Heiji-niichan would have only gotten in the way." Conan swayed a little himself, putting a hand to his bleeding leg. "Searching at night when you can see is better. We need to rest. Can you carry him?"

"Ah, yes, I think so." Hakuba lifted Kuroba up like a child, the weight obviously straining him but it didn't seem to be impossible. "What about your leg?"

"We didn't run into any danger coming here, we should run into any going back." Conan let out a breath. "That was a lot of pointlessness."

"Not really. We know we don't die now. I was afraid that we would." Hakuba shifted Kuroba a bit in example. "I'm not sure what would happen if the death criteria for the game is met though."

"I don't know. I haven't played that long. A lot of this is still new to me."

"I haven't played at all aside from loading the game and reading through some of the rules." Hakuba started walking, being careful of where he stepped. "We know there's a pond here, as well as the possibility of the horse not being able to be recovered. I did not see its body though, so odds are it's injured and ran off. It may be some time before I can get to it, but I'm sure I'll be able to find it. I dearly wish there was medication for the headache I have in this game, but I'll make due."

Conan followed him back, agreeing that they had discovered more about the game. That was a good thing. There was an unconscious thief though, and he was bleeding just as badly, leaving a trail of their life as they continued back to what he had to guess would be a very angry Hattori.

…

He wasn't disappointed as they approached the house, the still dark-skinned detective waiting for them against the barn. He supposed he would have been worried if he had been left behind and one of them was being brought back unconscious, but the yelling he could have done without.

"I told ya I should'a gone with! Why do ya never listen ta me! Look! Yer hurt again and ya only just got better! Are ya crazy? Me an' the guy just spend all our money on my armor an' ya still think it's a better idea ta go without me?!"

Conan let Hattori shout as he borrowed some spare cloth from the girl that they had saved, using it to tie up his leg as he went inside the barn and leaned against the wall. A bed sounded really nice still, and he could probably get himself one. He wanted to watch Kuroba though. He'd get himself a bed in a few hours, when he was ready to sleep. Hakuba would likely be going out on his own, which wouldn't be good. Conan sighed. He'd have to sleep at some point early in the morning if he wanted to go with. Maybe he could find some medicine before that. "I'll be back."

"Where do ya think yer goin' now? Ya just-"

"I'm going into town. I won't be more than half an hour. Tell me if he's up by then."

Hakuba nodded though Hattori didn't seem happy about it. He was going to go see if anyone could help him though. They probably could and it was better than sitting around here and watching the guy sleep.

Leaving them to look around the town was also something that he was interested in. He left the girl's house, checking out the blacksmith's place. The man was back, hammering away at what was obviously a sword now. He watched for a while before moving on. He found his way to a store, speaking with the owner for a bit before he was given something that he was told would make him feel better. He drank it, tasting something close to cough syrup flavor, before his wound started to heal and he saw his health go back to eight. He thanked the owner, promising to pay him what he couldn't later, and was waved off with his promise.

There were a few places selling food that was starting to look really good. He knew he had some dried stuff in his pack but nothing appealing. He ended up buying a bit and eating his first virtual meal that tasted like any other meal he'd eaten. For a video game, this one really went all out, unless their perception of life was changing it as well.

After checking around the rest of the buildings, including the main hall where there were a lot of people gathered, talking about the troubles around town and outside of it, he went back to the barn. He was sure he'd been gone an hour or so but Kuroba was still asleep.

"Hey," Hattori said, grabbing him once he walked in. "Thought ya were jus' goin' somewhere real fast. That took way too… Hey, yer leg isn't wrapped up."

"Nope, all better." Conan smiled. "That's what happens when you're a hero."

"Huh?"

Conan noticed Hakuba move out of the corner of his vision so he explained. "I'm a folk hero. I picked it when I first played the game. Didn't you have to fill out all this background information? Hakuba-niisan said he was a Hermit."

"Oh, ah, yeah, I guess I did." Hattori thought back. "What the heck did I pick?"

"There were a few options," Hakuba spoke up. "Shall I name them?"

Hattori shook his head. "Nah, it was somethin' that went good with bein' a fighter. It was… ah…"

"Solider," Hakuba spoke up again.

"Ah! Yah! Solider! How'd ya know?"

"It's the only background that sounds like a fighter class would be applicable. I can't recall the perks that came with that one."

"Just rank wit other soldiers. Ain't nothin' special that I kin really use."

"Not now at least. I shall keep that in mind. We have a hermit- which is to say myself - a folk hero, Conan-kun. You are a solider, and Kuroba was… I can't recall what he told us he was."

"Charlatan." Conan tipped his head. He knew only because he had expected him to be a 'criminal' or something overly dramatic like that. "I think all that background can do is con people though."

Hakuba nodded. "Well, if anything, we are a diverse group of travelers."

"And loud." Kuroba sat up, slowly, nursing his leg as he did. Conan could see that the wounds were still bleeding even though they were bandaged. "What happened?"

"You lost a fight to a bush."

Hattori snorted and he even heard Hakuba laugh. Kuroba didn't seem happy at all and laid back down.

"I'm going to sleep. Wake me before you go anywhere."

"Sure, sure." Conan shook his head. Kuroba may have just woken up but he had near none of his health or energy back. He would get it with sleep, though as an elf, he wasn't sure how that worked. Sleep worked differently for that race. "I've already looked around town. Hakuba-niisan, how about the three of us go with you to check the forest now? We can see if you can't make any more potions. They were very helpful."

Hakuba smiled. "I like being more than a hindrance. Sure, let's go."


	4. Into the Dark

**Chapter 4: Into the Dark**

Conan had to hope that traveling in a group of three wasn't going to be normal. They were weaker this way and it was so much easier to die. If he was being honest, if not for Kuroba being incredibly stupid when they had run into their first real combat experience, he likely would have been in a much worse position.

The fact that Hattori knew very little that he didn't know, and Hakuba knew even less, didn't help. There were some changes but Kuroba knew this game a lot better than the three of them did and he was off resting.

Hattori was complaining, walking behind him through the dark woods. To Conan it looked like bright moonlight shinning down from the branches, a film or red over it as if everything were slightly burning. Apparently the openings in the trees were few and far between, this knowledge coming to him from the annoying complaints next to him. To Hattori, it apparently seemed as if someone had locked him in a box, a rather big one or not.

He eventually gave in. holding his hand out after waving the gesture he needed to perform. " _Produced flame."_

The forest lit up and he noticed Hakuba immediately take a few steps back from him. Conan held the flame off to the side, careful not to hit Hattori with it. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Hakuba rubbed his eyes. "Just warn me next time."

"Baby."

"What was that, Hattori-kun? Were you complaining that it's too dark for the dozenth time or is that just my hearing?"

Conan rolled his eyes. The two of them bickering was nothing new but he had hoped that the fire would keep the forest a little more quiet. "You'll scare off the horse."

Funny enough that shut them up. They were all doing this for a horse still and, in some ways, he didn't mind. He was hoping this game followed its rules though, and that he could become a bit stronger by gaining a level. Being the strongest thing next to sliced bread wasn't exactly comforting.

Hakuba held out a hand and they stopped soon after they had started. He had to take the lead now that Conan had the flame to give away their position.

" _What is it?"_

" _I, ah, I'm not sure. They look like small goblins in a way. I'm not sure how this game makes goblins to be positive though. I never did get to play if you recall."_ Conan watched Hakuba narrow his eyes, scanning through the tress. " _There are four of them. They just seem to be looking around. I think there might have been a campsite up ahead. I see a burned area that looks like it was used to light a fire."_

Conan let the flame in his hand go out, hearing a quiet complaint from Hattori. He wasn't about to draw the attention of these creatures simply because Hattori wanted to get a good look at them before they killed him. " _Kuroba-niisan did say the forest was a spawing point. We should have expected to run into monsters. Can we get around them?"_

" _We can try. They don't seem to have any issues seeing in the dark. I suppose I can see a bit further than they or they would have seen me by now as well. If you want to try going around, I don't mind. I'm not sure how hard it will be to pick up on the trail again though. I'll have to look for it."_

Conan didn't think he wanted to do that. Going around and avoiding them would be easier, it would get them the horse, but it would also take them a lot longer and there was no guarantee that Hakuba would be able to find the horse tracks with all the other creatures that had to be here. " _Do you think we can take them?"_

" _I think Hattori-kun is blind in this darkness. Without a light source he'll be just as bad off as I am in the sunlight. Lighting anything will give ourselves away though, and you and I are better at fighting long distance."_

" _Easy_ ," Hattori spoke up, patting around in the darkness until his found Conan's shoulder, pulling him back a bit. " _Ya guys back up behind me where ya wanna be an' I make a bunch'a noise an' make 'em come ta me."_

It wasn't a bad plan but it meant they'd all be on Hattori and the two of them would be relatively safe. " _If I say run, you run. No questions asked."_

" _Sure, but wit ya watchin' my back, why would I hafta run?"_

" _Kuroba-niisan should have run,"_ Conan pointed out. Sure the guy would have just gotten stabbed anyway and still been in the condition he was now, but Hattori didn't need to know that, he just needed to listen. " _Give us five minutes. I want to try and get into a tree."_

" _I can help you with that._ " Hakuba came over to him, picking him up. He wasn't used to people just lifting him without asking. It was a strange kind of contact that he'd only ever really had with Ran and her father. Hakuba not being fully Japanese, he knew he was more used to things like this. He hated being a kid and having to be lifted or given assistance for anything that had height. They went at least fifteen feet away from Hattori before Hakuba lifted him towards one of the lower branches of a younger tree. Conan didn't need help, sitting himself on it and nodding his head.

Hakuba nodded in return, finding a tree across from him that allowed them both visuals on Hattori. Hakuba's branch was much bigger and instead of sitting he was crouched on it, drawing an arrow out of his quiver. He'd noticed that Hakuba had gotten some more while they were in town and spent little on anything else aside from getting another set of clothes for backup.

Conan blinked in surprise when the arrow flew through the forest before Hattori could do a thing. Conan couldn't see that far away but, since Hakuba could, why not attack them first? They were goblins so there was no way they were the good guys. He heard a cry in the forest, creating a bunch of confusion and looking around that brought a few into his own line of sight before they vanished out of it again. Hakuba got off another shot and Conan could hear cries, whether of pain or not he wasn't sure, as the creatures traversed through the forest towards them.

"Think I liked the runnin' away idea better," Hattori spoke up, shifting to hold this thin sword in front of him. It was a bit small for Hattori but, until they were at a higher level, he doubted his friend would risk dropping the shield in his other hand.

He had his hands out, unsure what he could possibly do. He had a few cantrips, or spells that took next to no magic to cast, but he hadn't had time to rest and regain any of his more powerful spells.

That being said he only had one spell that did any damage in that category and he started casting it, waiting until he saw one of the goblin-looking things that still looked nothing like the goblins they ran into in the forest, hitting an non-injured one as it came around a tree and into his view.

He knew he had hit it but the naked, what seemed to be green – its red hue similar to that of the leaves around him, four-legged goblin just shook his head. The creature grinned and showed off large teeth on its small, bat-like pale face that didn't match the rest of his body.

 _Damn it, he couldn't hurt it!_

"Shit, Hattori-niisan, I don't have any other spells!"

"Yer kiddin' me." Hattori shook his head, dead set on this fight still.

It would be two on one, mostly. Conan reached into his robe and drew out a dagger. It had always come with his character but he'd seen no real reason to use it. Kuroba had thrown it before, maybe he could too.

Hakuba had another arrow though he was aiming further off in the distance. He saw him shoot it but what became of it, he wasn't sure. He was distracted as two more of the green creatures came out the trees and they all went Hattori.

Conan had been hoping the improved armor would have made the cut Hattori had gotten earlier not an issue. He watched as one of the things bit down on Hattori's arm while he was avoiding the other two, blood leaving a trail in the air as Hattori threw the creature off. The other monsters tried to claw at him while he was busy, one nicking between his armor. Conan watched as the eight above his head went down to a two and Hattori, apparently ticked off, swung at the creature that bit him.

"What happened to running away?" Conan shouted, afraid for his friend. Hakuba was the only one besides Hattori who could hit them and his dagger wasn't going to do much at all.

Hattori missed and Conan threw the dagger at the one that had bit his friend. He was more than a little surprised when the thing screamed, the dagger going into it's neck while it pawed it out, dripping blood down from where he had struck it. It's eyes turned to him and Conan smirked.

"We can't take them on. We have to get out of here. Hattori-kun, next time run!"

Conan heard Hakuba's voice and saw Hattori nod as the dark figure that was Hakuba shot at the creature that now had its attention on him. It made him smile more when the creature gripped at its side, trying to free the arrow sticking out of it as well.

Hattori fended off the attacks that came at him, one of the claws getting at him again as he watched his friend fall before he had a chance to escape. Conan's attention was focused on the negative one settling above Hattori, watching it fade before becoming worried about the ugly green monster coming up the tree at him.

It's teeth sunk in near his collarbone, more on his shoulder than his throat and he couldn't help a scream when he felt at least one bone decide it didn't want to stay connected. He was barley conscious as it pulled him forward, slashing at his stomach – something the monsters seemed to like to aim for on him – as the world went black.

…

Saguru felt his hand shake as he drew another arrow. He hadn't missed yet, and he had felt proud of himself, but watching Conan be tossed to the ground like a tiger downing a rabbit while the creatures all turned on him had him rethinking things.

He couldn't leave the both of them, or at least not the child. He had the ability to jump down and pick up Conan, fairly certain he could outrun at least most of the creatures. The one closest to the boy would be the hardest to lose. He wasn't sure how willing he was to let Hattori, as annoying as the guy was, suffer whatever fate these creatures had in mind.

Where Kuroba came from, he wasn't sure. He only knew that the goblin in the tree fell beside the boy and Kuroba was in the face of another, stabbing it with his dagger.

"Kuroba-kun, what-"

"Save it for later. I still only have one hit point. You stupid idiots wouldn't let me rest. I _knew_ you were going to get into trouble. Shoot it!"

Saguru aimed at the one Kuroba wounded, shooting it and watching quite a bit of blood come from the wound as the creature stumbled.

"Hakuba-kun, you can take the other two out, okay?" Kuroba turned to him briefly before facing forward again, in the best defensive position he could be with how close they were.

Saguru had never heard Kuroba doubt himself like that before. Hattori had gotten hit though and there was small chance his classmate would fair much better. He looked like he was barely standing at all.

Avoiding the teeth and getting caught in the ribs by one of the creatures claws, Kuroba fell, leaving him alone with two creatures instead of three now, though that wasn't much to be looking forward to.

He drew an arrow, taking in and letting out a breath before firing at the wounded creature, watching it fall while its partner scurried up his own tree, aiming those blood-stained claws and razor teeth at him now.

The teeth of the creature barely missed his throat, getting caught for a moment on his armor as the creature's claws came at his face, blinding him in one eye as he tried not to fall out of the tree. He bow fell out of his fingers, dropping as he steadied himself on the limb. He could see even through his closed eye as the numbers before him went from a ten to a six.

Taking in and letting out a few quick breaths, Saguru reached for the short sword at his waist. He hadn't wanted to use it, didn't want to be an up and close fighter, but there was no choice now as his swung it, his heart racing.

He missed – nothing too surprising considering the state he was in, trapped in a horrible position on the tree limb but thankfully in a difficult enough one that it was too hard for the creature to come further out and get a good shot at him. His second swig got the thing right in the chest, more than a little blood getting on him as well as the creature cried out, anger in its eyes as it dove at him, trying to make him it's next meal.

The monster got his leg, digging in deep as he tried to kick it off, watching the six turn into a three. It was still on him as he attacked it in return, dropping his weapon on accident and breathing hard as he tried to get the creature away from him. He was barely conscious himself and could only think that Kuroba's faith in him had been sorely misplaced.

The creature grinned some more, his own blood glinting off its teeth. He was starting to wish he couldn't see so well and, as soon as he wished it, he noticed his vision was changing.

There was some kind of green fog coming out of nowhere. It didn't really block his vision so much as it changed the color, a horrible smell forcing him to put a hand over his nose. He had to cough, feeling ill all of a sudden. It was becoming even harder to concentrate and, considering he had no lunch to lose, he was hoping he wouldn't start heaving as this thing killed him.

Half delirious, Saguru drew out his second and last weapon. What the sword could do he didn't know but he was too sick and in too much pain to think as he struck the creature, wishing it would die already, not feeling any more pain before he struck again and heard it fall out of the tree.

Saguru was starting to feel better, the green fog gone almost as fast as it had come, and he slowly got himself out of the tree, tripping when he landed badly because of his leg. He quickly retrieved his fallen weapons, nocking an arrow into the bow and searching around for further enemies, praying to whatever god there was in this world that there wouldn't be.

A full five minutes later he dropped to the ground, panting and pained and knowing he'd need to get something for the others once he had gotten himself back in order. He wasn't a fighter, never had been, and never wanted to get that close to one of those creatures again.

It was a long while before he got up and went searching the woods on his own, hoping that the others would be fine while he was gone. It wasn't as if he could do anything if something stumbled upon them in the darkness any better than if he had stayed to die along with them.

He had enough herbs and ingredients for two more potions, figuring that Hattori and Kuroba would be the ones best ones to take them. He felt bad for Conan, and didn't want the boy to be in any unnecessary pain, but the other two were better fighters and pain was better than death.

Saguru bent down near Kuroba, careful of his own leg, and helped his unconscious friend drink the liquid. At least there would be no complaining about the taste this time. He watched the numbers above his head crawl up to an eight before stopping, Kuroba opening his eyes slowly before sitting up.

"Hey, you did it. I thought you could."

"It was close. The last of the horse tracks I picked up were from over six hours ago. I'm not about to go looking for the creature again. With what lives in the forest, I'm certain it's dead at this point. Here." Saguru handed over the only other vial that had anything in it. "I only could make two. Give this one to Hattori-kun."

"Sure." Kuroba stood up, looking him over. Saguru was sure he didn't look too pretty. He still wasn't able to open his eye and he could feel it bleeding. "You sure you don't want it?"

He shook his head. "Hattori-kun will be the better fighter. Besides, I'm going to get some sleep." He laid down where he was, half curled up, and closed his good eye as well.

"Here?"

Saguru had to smile a bit at the surprise the word carried. "I would enjoy the comforts of my own bed, but as that doesn't seem to be possible, I'll pick the grass over the hay that's too far for me to want to walk to injured."

There was some silence before Kuroba spoke up again. "Good job. Thanks for saving us."

"You saved us. If you hadn't been tailing us, I never would have been able to take on another."

"Yeah, well, you're welcome. Thanks for giving me a potion."

"You are welcome," Saguru traded back, just wanting to go to sleep. "Now kindly shut up."

He heard his classmate chuckle. " _As if_."

He sighed. Right, that was far too much to ask for.

…

Kuroba was touching the air in front of himself when Saguru woke up, the soft colors of the sky not bright enough to hurt his eyes yet. Hattori was awake and next to him, speaking quietly and touching the air as well. He couldn't fail to notice that Conan, while still bleeding and unconscious, was now laying next to Hattori with a robe over him. The black told him it was Kuroba's.

"What in the world are you doing?"

"Oh," Kuroba looked over at him. "You're up. Good. Hattori-kun, you can go to bed now. I'll sleep after the little guy wakes up in the next five hours. We'll only miss an hour then."

"Sure. Ah, so all this is new, right?"

"The options? Yes. Level two is usually where you pick your defining characteristics. Hakuba-kun, you should level up too."

"Level up?" Saguru blinked when he suddenly had information in front of him, almost like a virtual computer screen.

 _Pick a Fighting Style_.

Saguru looked over the options and the benefits, looking past himself at Kuroba. Kuroba and Hattori seemed like the up close fighters while he and Conan were the long range. He wasn't sure if it would be better to be one or the other though, and he felt kind of bad for staying out of 'blood splatter' range. "I can fight on the front lines with you two, if you need me to. Do you?"

Kuroba narrowed his eyes a moment, looking away from what had to be his own screen and focusing on him. "Hakuba-kun, it's up to you. If you like being an archer better, be an archer. This game can kill us and I don't blame you. You're armor isn't as good as Hattori-kun's so it's not unreasonable."

"And yours is worse than mine, yet you're front and center."

Kuroba let out a breath. "Yeah, I'm thinking about fixing that. Defense should be what we focus on. It means I won't be able to do much damage for a few levels though."

"If you were going to do it anyway, do it." Saguru clicked on the archery. If he was going to be long range there was no point in choosing the defense option.

 _Choose two Spells._

Saguru blinked. "I can learn magic?"

"Huh?" Kuroba was distracted, looking back towards him. "You're a ranger, right? Yeah, you get magic. I don't, not naturally anyway, and either does Hattori-kun. Didn't you even know what classes could use magic?"

"Do I need to answer that?"

Kuroba sighed, shooing him off. "Just pick what spells you want. It shouldn't be that hard. You and the little guy can figure that out in five hours if you want to wait."

Saguru knew he could figure it out on his own if the boy could. Looking through the spells he was happy to find a healing one as well as one that would do a fair amount of damage with his bow and arrow now. The words vanished afterwards and he rubbed his eye, realizing his other had healed well enough that he hadn't notice any issues with his sight. That was good.

Hattori seemed to be done as well though Kuroba was standing and had taken a few steps back from the other. Kuroba smirked at him when his classmate noticed he was done. "Watch this. Remember how I just said my class doesn't typically get magic?"

Saguru nodded and he watched Hattori nod as well, the other clearly having just a little explanation for all this as he was.

"That's because I'm a rouge. Level up," Kuroba started staring at the screen that was invisible to him. "Multi-class. Sorcerer." There was a slight pause. "Light, Ray of Frost, Dancing Lights and Blade Ward." Another pause. "Shield and Fog Cloud." Kuroba turned his attention away from what had to be a spell list, which you could apparently enter vocally instead of physically. Whatever it was that was on there apparently didn't need his classmate's attention. "White dragon ancestry."

Saguru had to blink a few times, something that kind of looked like a see-through dragon appearing behind Kuroba before melting into him, leaving traces of light scales across Kuroba's skin and near his eyes. Kuroba's newly bright green eyes now had a ting of gold to them as he turned and took off his armor. "Pretty neat, huh? I have magic now _and_ I have better armor without needing to buy any."

Saguru cleared his throat, blinking a few times still as he looked over Kuroba's new features. "Kuroba-kun, did you just turn yourself into a dragon?"

"Part dragon, kind of. I mean, it's vague. It could have been in my blood in any generation the game chose," Kuroba corrected him, winking. "Neat, huh?"


	5. Pairing

**Chapter 5: Pairing**

Conan woke up, his head and body killing him. It was still dark out and he found himself unconscious as soon as Kuroba came out of the darkness and put a hand over his eyes.

" _Rest_."

So he did, waking later to sunlight and everyone except Kuroba awake. He blinked a few times, noticing a very faint, pulsating green light around his vision. It didn't overly bother him but it was something new. "What's going on?"

"Awesome, yer up!" Hattori had him up in the air and flying around before the other detective stopped the world spinning and threw him upward a few times, catching him under his arms. "Nothin's broken. That's pretty awesome."

"Yes, just awesome. Will you put me down now?"

Hattori set him down and Conan checked himself over. He had a lot more blood on his clothes than he'd had before and, yet again, his robes were ripped. He sighed. How did anyone ever play this game without wasting all of their money on new clothes? Probably the way Kuroba did, and just not caring that they were ripped or stained. Maybe black was the way to go.

"I'd wait 'till he's awake 'fore levelin' up. I got a question fer 'im anyway."

"Leveling up?"

Hattori nodded. "Last fight. Hakuba-kun had ta fill me in. Kind of got knocked out 'a that pretty fast. Seems blondie here did all the winnin'."

"I would appreciate a new name, considering I believe my hair is no longer blond, not to mention that fact that you will sound insane to anyone of this world with half a mind if you call me that publicly."

Hattori rolled his eyes. "Fine, the old man over there wit the white hair."

Conan couldn't help a slight smile. "So, we do level up in this-" He had to shake his head, words and a menu appearing before him.

"Ah, don' use those words. Say 'cancel' 'er somethin'."

"Cancel, or something," Conan repeated, watching the menu vanish.

"Smart ass."

Conan smirked. "So what's all this waiting about?"

Hattori looked over at the sleeping thief. "He jus' leveled up weird an' it gave 'im some kind'a armor. I wanted ta know if you kin do it too."

Conan shrugged and sat back down. "I barely understand this game so I suppose it is better to wait for him to wake up." He looked over his clothes while he had a second, seeing the large rip near his stomach, _again_ , and the tear marks on his shoulder where the thing's teeth from last night had gotten him. "I think I'm going to get brown or black next time and get several pairs."

"Town isn't far," Hakuba spoke up. "I simply couldn't carry all three of you when you were unconscious."

Conan looked back at Kuroba. "Where did he come from anyway?"

Hakuba shrugged. "He said he followed us. It was good he did. I never could have survived against those that were left. You really should have run, Conan-kun. You weren't doing any damage." The other got up and walked over to him, bending down next to him. He examined his ripped clothing. "I can at least say for myself that getting injured in this game feels like any other real injury, even if it heals faster. Are you doing all right? You've been getting injured a lot."

"Whether I can feel it or not doesn't really matter. We're at a very low level where almost anything in this world can prey on us, even its animals. It's not a good idea to run and hide."

"I suppose you have a point there." Hakuba sat next to him. "But I think the mental state we're in is just as important. I will admit, last night I was not at my best after you were all out. It _does_ effect how we fight, so I think it's better to rest in town if any of us have to rather than try and push on to get stronger."

"Ya, well I'm jus' fine."

"Good for you, Hattori-kun, but like the other two, I'm human in here." Hakuba pointed to his chest. "Feel free to run about, getting yourself hurt and killed all you want, but I care about my sanity."

"Will you all shut up?"

"Sorry," Conan spoke, pretty unapologetically, as Kuroba woke from them yet again. He remembered the same thing happening last night before they all left. He noticed the other was still hurt, likely still in need of a bit of sleep. "Do you think you can help me level real quick and go back to bed?"

Kuroba yawned. "Might as well. It's pretty easy to fall asleep right now, but I can't do it on the flip of a coin. Why did you need help leveling? I heard wizards were pretty standard when it came to gaining spells rather than abilities."

"They were talking about something with armor that you did." Conan could see the light outline of scales on his face, the slight gold his eyes held now. "Will that help me too?"

"Hmm… Well, tell me your stats. I need to know those to help."

"Stats?"

Kuroba sighed. "The things you assigned numbers to that said how strong or intelligent or fast you were."

"Oh, those." He had to think. "I don't remember what I had put back then."

Kuroba rolled his eyes. "Open the Menu and say stats. It will show you what they are."

Conan did, seeing three little letters that stood for each ability he had. "Lets see. I tried to follow the instructions the game gave me. I have a negative… bonus? Do you want the bonus or the stat itself?"

"The bonus will do."

"Okay, I have a negative for strength, nothing for dexterity, a plus two for my constitution, a plus three for my intelligence, a plus one for my wisdom, and a plus two for my charisma."

Kuroba sounded like he choked. "You have no plus for you dexterity? You?"

Conan narrowed his eyes. "It said to put it in charisma if I wanted some enchantment thing, and since the race I picked had some enchantment ability, I went with that."

"'Or' does _not_ mean one or the other. It means make one your second highest and the other your third, not one of your lowest." Kuroba hit his hand lightly against his forehead. "Jeez, someone should have taught you how to play this better."

"Sue me. I didn't think I'd be living the game. Most of the time I don't even look into it as much as I did for this one."

Kuroba let in and let out a large breath. "Okay, well, you could level the class I just did. It won't help much, because it relies on dexterity, and I'm not sure what it would do to your spells. Here. Say 'class selection' while you still have the menu up. You can look up multi-classing after. If you pick sorcerer like I did, it _will_ help your defense. Not that much but quite a bit better than what you're dealing with right now. I'm going back to sleep while you do that. If you need me, wake me, you squishy little wizard." Kuroba pulled a piece of cloth from inside his robe and put it over his eyes, going back to bed.

Conan had wanted something like this, he just had no idea how to get to it. Without a keyboard, it seemed a lot of the information and things like that had changed to vocal commands. He looked through the other classes along with what advantages he could get with multi-classing. There was one class he liked a bit for an ability it would give him, but it would leave him very helpless defense-wise still, and he was _not_ a fan of getting hurt.

"I can only be a bard, a sorcerer, or a warlock." He had only two stats good enough, and 'wizard' was the only one that relied on his intelligence. The other there focused on charisma.

Hattori snorted. "Yer no bard. _Please_ don't sing. I heard the horror stories."

Conan snorted unhappily. "I don't think bards have to sing. Besides, I'm not that bad."

Hattori shooed him off. "Go look at the classes. I still think ya gettin' better armor is the better idea."

Conan went back to the words in front of him, looking the classes over and what he'd get with each. While it sounded better as far as spells and armor went, he was leaning towards another class. The only problem was he was very confused with how it worked while leveling. It sounded like he'd get no benefits from it in the long run. He sighed. "I don't want to be part dragon."

"Deal. Yer a little wizard right now, buddy. Ya need something more… more."

"Yes, I know that, but some of these other things are more valuable." He shrugged. "You only live once. So how do you level in another class?"

"Yer not goin' wit that dragon armor, are ya?"

"I get proficiency with light armor with this other class. It's only one less and going to take all the gold I have when I get back to town, but I like all the bonuses that come with it."

Hattori shrugged. "I'll watch yer back. I guess ya just say 'level up' and 'multi-class' 'er somethin' like that. 'at's what he did."

Conan nodded. "Level up." He saw the screen he had before, of the spells he'd gain as a wizard. He wouldn't get another slot but it might be worth losing an extra level of power. "Multi-class." A new screen came up with the three options he had to choose from. "Warlock."

He reached out, feeling silly talking to the menu, and selected the new skills he wanted. He had a warlock spell slot now, which was going to confuse him, but he ignored it as it slide in besides his other spell slots. He could at least cast three different ones now, and he was going to go for less utility – as his pact that he was making with the… faeries, was going to give him enough of those.

He also noticed he could use more spells than he thought he could before. He didn't actually have the ability to cast more times, but he had more options. He really needed to learn more about this game.

Conan sighed, rubbing his eyes when he was done. "That's a lot to take in, this multi-classing. I'm going to just keep leveling as a wizard from now on."

"Or make yerself part dragon next level."

"Or do that if I keep getting hit. I might as well, though I could have added a lot of hit points to myself if I had just picked a different wizard class this level."

Hattori coughed. "Why didn't ya jus' do that?"

"Because I don't plan on focusing on protection magic. I'm going to be a wizard and I'm going to stay in the back of battles from now on. I'm going to learn spells so _you_ don't have to fight."

"We do really need to learn how to fight together better," Hakuba commented. "We're rather bad at it. Kuroba-kun's the one who keeps having to jump in and save us."

Conan nodded. "From now on, I'm staying back. Hakuba-niisan, if you're a guide while we're searching for something, you and Kuroba are in the front." He looked over Hakuba's armor. "Or just Kuroba-niisan. You stay back with Hattori-niisan like we were doing before. If there are trees I'm just going to have difficulty seeing well around them."

"We could always get ya a horse to ride on. Ya kin run then."

Conan thought about that. It wasn't that bad of an idea, but he had to guess a horse was pretty expensive. "Later, when we have more money. By the way, did any of you notice that we had a bit more money than we did before?"

Hattori shook his head. "Didn't have much since town so I ain't been lookin'."

Hakuba shook his head as well. "Money has not been on my mind as of late."

…

Kuroba was up less than ten minutes later and the four of them went back to town. Conan knew the girl wouldn't be happy that they hadn't found her horse, but it wasn't like there was much that any of them could do about it. Walking back through the woods, they kept together. Luckily they didn't run into anything and he went to get himself some armor with what gold he had from the shop, along with a new robe that he hid it under as best he could.

"She's not going to be happy. We're probably going to have to pay for a room," Kuroba spoke, mostly in a sigh.

"I am just glad we're not all dead. You do know how very easily that could have happened, do you not?"

"Yeah, well that's all of your fault for sneaking off while I was trying to recuperate."

Point taken, there was no more conversation after that as they walked to and inspected the cheaper of the hotels in town.

"I can get in for free," Conan reminded them. "And I do have a little gold left if you want it."

Kuroba shook his head. "I can just sneak in without paying at some point late in the night. I don't need much sleep."

"I don't either, and as a ranger I can actually make a safe enough place to sleep near the edge of the woods." Hakuba tipped his head back towards them, lowering his hood a bit more as he did. "When the sun goes down."

"Jeez. I need ta take this stuff off at some point," Hattori complained, his armor looking pretty heavy. Don't make me feel bad askin' ya guys fer money."

"I'm sure I can make something large enough to suit both of us, though you are not going to sleeping near me."

Conan smiled. "That actually works out pretty well then. I'll go get a room for myself so we can at least go sit down and discuss what we're going to do."

Kuroba grabbed Hakuba's arm. "Hold that thought. We'll be right up. He can find you I'm sure. I need to go see a man about a something."

Conan tipped his head, curious, but nodded. They all needed to get more gold at some point to buy items for themselves. Hakuba could hunt for them, so food wasn't a worry, but that was only while they were near a place with game. "I am getting hungry."

"I will see if I can't… help with that later." Hakuba tried to keep his ground but Kuroba was pulling him away. "Be right back."

Then they were gone and Conan relaxed a bit more. It was hard to be comfortable with all of them. Hattori wasn't hard at all. It was like being with a puppy or something. "Come on, follow me."

Hattori did and Conan got himself a pretty decent room from the innkeeper. Hattori sat on his bed and took off the armor, moving his body around where it was stiff.

"Don't feel all that great wearin' the stuff but hey, I'm sure it's worth it."

"I doubt I'll ever be wearing heavy armor so I'll have to take your word for it." He felt the thin material of the bed sheet between his fingertips, finding some form of cheap cotton material that was woven decently for the quality. "I can't believe this is all as real as it is. As far as the game in concerned, these are our lives now and I'm going to try and get a bit stronger, if only for myself. I don't want to play through this story for an attempt to escape, but I can't just sit here and do nothing. I don't think you can either. If someone is coming here to save us, I doubt it will matter how strong we are or where we are."

"Nah, but I ain't goin' wit jus' you. Yer too weak, an' so am I so don't take that the wrong way. We need the other guys, as much as I hate that."

"Hakuba-kun's not that bad. I doubt Kuroba-kun will give us much trouble either. It's nice to have leverage on someone, though it works both ways so I'm not sure how much I can push my authority over his. For now we do need his knowledge though."

"What ya got on the guy? I never met him 'fore now."

Conan shook his head. "It doesn't matter right now. It's between him and me. Anyway, I did get to level two, but similarly to how we just did, by fighting enemies in a group. I'm not sure where the quests in this area are but we're going to need to look around and find a list of objectives we can meet."

Hattori nodded. "Those guys are gonna be out a bit so let's go do that now."

…

This was a big town and once Conan had two different quests they could go on after splitting up with Hattori, he made his way back to the room. The other would do the same if he hadn't made it back already.

"Where have you been?" He was greeted with the other two instead, and, surprisingly, a _deer_ in the room. It wasn't very big and it wasn't old enough to have lost all its spots yet, but it was something he was sure the innkeeper should not have allowed.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at the creature, which looked terrified to be trapped in those four walls.

"Kuroba-kun's 'brilliant' idea on how to keep you out of danger. I've been working on reigns and they sell a saddle in town. It's not a very smart creature and it has no special abilities, but deer do run fairly quick." Hakuba seemed to pet the terrified animal on the head and it calmed down, even turning to nuzzle against him. "They are terrible fighters though and we do not have enough for any armor for him. I can always look for a different animal. Kuroba-kun showed me where I could find information on them. It's apparently common information in our menus."

Conan had seen a few deer but he had never been close to one. It wasn't like they were normally at the zoo and he didn't typically make camping trips where they were common or live near dense enough forests. He went forward, putting his hand out and watching as it glowed slightly. He was confused as to why that was happening but didn't care to stop reaching out as the deer met him halfway, putting its nose against his hand.

"You don't put anything into your dexterity but you put a skill into animal handling? Really?" Kuroba sighed. He was doing that a lot. "Well, it seems like a good thing in this case."

"I like him. What's his name?"

Hakuba shrugged. "I can't talk to animals, at least, not yet. I imagine he can act like any pet though and you can name him yourself. I do have some gold to add towards the money for a saddle."

Conan thought about it and he didn't miss Kuroba rolling his eyes on the edges of his vision. Right, it was a deer. No need to give it a complicated name. Odds were it was as intelligent as any other deer and wouldn't be able to recognize its name in any case. "Well, calling you 'deer' seems silly so I suppose I'll just call you Spots."

There was a laugh. "Spots? Really?"

Conan frowned, seeing that Kuroba didn't think he was serious. "Why not? He has his spots still, so Spots doesn't seem like a bad name."

"Whatever, he's your deer."

Yes, he was, and the idea of having a deer was very silly but it did make him smile. He was a small wizard/warlock who made a pact with the fairies and now he'd be riding a deer. That just seemed funny though he was glad. They had leveled, would be getting hit less, and now he had a deer to work into his plans.

They weren't going to be the losers any more.


	6. Captured

**Chapter 6: Captured**

Conan blinked, looking around the edge of town.

Everything had been destroyed some time in the night. Hakuba and Hattori were nowhere to be seen and he was standing beside Kuroba, trying to understand what had happened.

"I didn't hear a thing."

"Neither did I, and I was sleeping on the roof." The thief tapped his hand against his arm. "Either way it looks like we just got split up and that's really, really not good. Hattori-kun's the only one who can tank and I don't get a bonus if I attack alone. You in the front lines has 'bad idea' written all over it."

Conan nodded slowly, running forward and searching through the destroyed ruins of what had to be some sort of meat shop. The stink of the rotting animal carcasses was almost overwhelming. He let his vision go green a moment as he searched, shaking his head. "The people who were in these buildings are gone. If the other two became involved in this they're likely still alive at least."

"I hope so. Hard to tell Hakuba-kun's parents that some monster from another world ate him up." Kuroba laughed. "I'm not all that worried about those two. Hattori-kun's loud. If he needed us I have a feeling that they would have gotten our attention somehow."

"Unless they didn't have the chance to. Look." Conan picked up one of the wooden boards. "Whatever did this was big and it was strong. I don't see any sign of fire or anything else. Touch it."

Kuroba did and pulled his hand away slowly, noticing what Conan noticed only once he came in contact with it.

"It's freezing."

Conan nodded. "So it's a monster that fights with ice. Do you know any?" It was strange that there wasn't a trace of frost anywhere but that was his only idea at the moment.

"Tons, though none of them are good news. The main ones that stick out to me is it was a wizard like you that uses cold attacks. I'm sure you could have learned a few yourself."

Conan nodded once more, knowing he had elemental attacks of the fire, poison, and lightning variety. (He also had something with 'cold' in its description, but he didn't think it actually did any ice damage.)

"They attacked the village with something big and fast and grabbed some people while they were doing it. Why, I don't know. The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head was that it was a dragon." Kuroba ran his fingers lightly over some of the faint scales on his body. "I chose white, which would help me if I furthered my leveling. White dragons I think are the only ones that do cold attacks but let me check."

He watched Kuroba open up his menu and likely go through the guild book for anything else that had cold attacks. In any case, he was no good against ice in particular and a dragon was something he was fairly certain the two of them couldn't take on, especially only at level two.

"Oops." Kuroba laughed and closed the window. "Looks like I made a little mistake of my own and picked and evil dragon's color. It looks like silver dragons can also use cold attacks but they're good so I'm pretty sure we can scratch that one."

Conan had to smirk. " _You're a thief in this game and outside of it and are angry that you choose the wrong color?"_

"Yeah, actually, I am. I doubt I'd look good with bronze scales though so," Kuroba shrugged. "It's cosmetic only. I don't care all that much. Everyone we meet now is going to take me as a bad guy though."

"You are a bad guy."

"That's beside the point. Do you know what warlocks are famous for?" Kuroba grinned at him, raising an eyebrow. "They're rouge wizards who play with magic that they shouldn't. Most people see them as bad guys too."

Conan swallowed, not having known that. "Really?"

"Really, so unless we find Hattori-kun, we're not going to look like the nicest of people to approach. Your background should make it okay for you but I'll be in a bit of trouble. Hakuba-kun also couldn't have picked a worse race." Kuroba groaned, hitting his head lightly with his palm. "And of course the two of us are the only ones that can help Hattori-kun in the dark and Hakuba-kun can't travel during the day."

"I have a lot of new spells since leveling. We should be good for now and the two of them can make due." Conan passed up the destroyed buildings and those crying over the missing people. "No footprints which means it likely was something that could fly or float. With the people missing, they must have either been grabbed or it's some kind of magic I'm unfamiliar with or eaten with no blood left behind. In any case, we have to figure out where they went."

"How?"

"By asking about similar attacks. We have to see if anyone noticed anything. You and I should have but…" Conan put a hand to his chin and thought. "It's hard to believe that _no one_ saw anything. I'm going to go ask around."

He took off, Kuroba staying where he was. He didn't care much what the thief did as long as he didn't hinder them.

…

Leaving the deer behind due to fact that it would make them stand out too much and Kuroba was having him wear his hood up, Conan checked over a few of the things he hadn't noticed were in the menu.

He was a little surprised that they weren't even in the world of the game. According to Kuroba, the place they were at now was an older version used in a template that never had any story to it. It explained why the thief didn't know where they were and why they hadn't started off in the village they were supposed to.

Ansalon, where they were now, was apparently an incredibly large content that made up most of the world. He looked over the map that he had bought as they walked through the forest, on a trail and not having to look out for danger that much.

"It looks like we're in a town called Kilas. The only thing around here besides more forests is a mountain range. There's a city we're heading to called Gavin. It's bigger and if they haven't heard anything we can try and get a boat to go to the larger part of the continent."

"And we're going to assume that the other two can find us?" Kuroba had his hands behind his head, following his lead. Conan was happy for that because he didn't want to put up with him right now.

"It's the largest city in the area. If they're smart they'll head there too. We'll stay there a while to see if we can't meet up with them."

"And before that you'll be training with me." Kuroba grinned. "We can level faster with just the two of us and right now being this low a level and only partnered with a wizard is a bad situation for me."

Conan looked at him sideways. "I don't think I'd mind that. I thought you said you were at a disadvantage without Hattori though."

"I am, a major one. I'm going to need to keep hiding if I can but that will put you in danger so I might forego it. My armor is still better than yours. We'll only sweat the small stuff. I'm not in the mood for dying just yet."

Conan wasn't sure what to think about that. Kuroba was clearly a front line fighter who needed a companion and he was clearly a long-range fighter with little armor. He looked from the map to Kuroba. "If it will kill monsters faster I have a few close range attacks I can use. I'm not _completely_ helpless."

They stared at one another a moment and Conan had to wonder, looking at the thief's greenish gold eyes, how strange his own looked.

"We'll try it out. Odds are we're going to be running into some bandits anyway."

Conan stopped where he was. "What?"

"Well, yeah. We're on a main road and bandits are all over these, looking to take lives and gold. I'm surprised we haven't run into any already."

Conan stayed where he was, mind racing. "I'm good with killing monsters but there's no way I'm killing humans, even if they are bandits."

"Hm." Kuroba stopped a few feet ahead of him. "I'm not either. You should be able to control whether you kill them or not. Attack to harm, not to kill. They shouldn't die then. That's how it works in the game anyway. I haven't been able to put it to the test. Everything coming at us has been rather… violent."

Conan nodded. "Then we have reason to run into a few besides leveling. If there's a way not to kill I'm going to take it every time."

Kuroba smiled. "I figured. Don't do the same with monsters. They have a tendency to follow after you and bring friends."

Conan had wanted to do it with monsters as well. Maybe a few of them he saw reason to get rid of but he doubted all of them were as mindless and bloodthirsty. "I'll make the decision when it comes along."

"I'm just hoping we don't run into anything too strong. You and I are both low level still. Until we're five I won't be feeling good about this." Conan watched Kuroba pull out a dagger, his short sword staying at his side. "By the way, weapon drawing it a little strange. Since I fight with two it takes me longer to draw out both. If you see me playing with this it's because it's the only way I can fight quickly."

Having no weapons Conan wasn't familiar with this and had to wonder if holding a dagger out in the open was really the best idea.

True to his words, twenty minutes later found them stopped in the middle of the road, two men in front of them and two men behind. He had to take off his hood to be able to look at all four at the same time. Conan couldn't help noticing that one of them had much lighter hair than the others and pointed ears.

"Look what we have here. It's not all that often we have a _descendant_ from the realm of fire." The light haired elf before them bowed gently, his smile wicked as he stood back up. "And one so young too. I wonder how much we can get for you."

Kuroba shifted slightly so he was partially in front of him and smirked back. "I don't know. I wonder how much we can get for your head. I'm sure there are some strange collectors out there."

The elf wrinkled his nose. "And where did you come from? I didn't think there were any of your race left."

"There's not. I like hacking."

Conan let out a breath that was partially a laugh. "You're not even one of the races here?"

"I am. This race just wasn't in this version of the game so I took the stats of the current one and made my 'look' match the Moon Elf one. Technically I'm a basic elf when it comes to my stats. Moon Elves don't make as good rouges."

"Enough of this!" The light haired elf before them drew a jagged looking sword. "The both of you will fetch a good price, dead or alive!"

Conan watched Kuroba dodge the elf and get cut on the arm by the human on his other side. He turned in time to see those behind him charging with their swords as well, feeling a blade cut deep into his skin near his collar bone. It made him scream and he barely stopped himself from falling to the floor, watching the numbers in front of him go from a fifteen to a nine.

"You _really_ shouldn't be in the front lines!" Kuroba yelled at him as he went after the other elf and missed terribly with both his weapons.

"It won't happen again." He took in and let out a breath, his voice changing as he waved his hands. " _Sleep_."

Conan watched the man in front of him sway before falling over, fast asleep. The person next to him shook off the effects and grinned at him before swinging his sword right for his throat. The man missed but barely, scrapping it across his chest. It hurt and Conan put a hand to the wound, watching again as the nine changed to a five. This was dangerous.

" _Hellish Rebuke!"_ Conan shouted before anyone could do anything else. He wasn't about to die again, not from these people, and he didn't care that it cost him more magic, leaving him slightly light headed.

He watched the fire surround the man, hearing him scream in pain as it burned him. It died out a few second later, the man panting and burned, but his sword still in his hand.

"You bastard. You'll pay for that."

Then there was a dagger in the man's chest and they both stared at it.

"No, he won't."

Kuroba quickly turned his attention back on his own fight, slashing at the elf again and leaving a long cut down the other's chest, deep and life-threatening if this were not a game. The elf stumbled a bit, barely on his feet as he stared at the both of them as well as the sleeping and fallen ally. He went from frowning to grinning. "The fire one is weak. Get him."

The first man cut him below the cheek as he dodged away, barely doing any damage as Conan watched the numbers go down.

It was the elf, attacking second, that left a large cut almost in the shape of an 'x' besides the other one he now bore, that made the world go black.

…

Conan woke slowly, feeling his hands tied behind his back and the steady bumping of movement as whatever he was on or in traveled over uneven ground.

He groaned, shifting a little.

"Don't move. You still need to get some sleep. You're barely alive right now."

Conan turned, the darkness doing nothing to hinder his vision besides making everything a bit red. He saw Kuroba tied up as well, a sword to his throat.

"We lost, huh?'

Kuroba smirked. "No. They took you hostage. I wasn't in the mood to see what happens when we die here, so they literally tied my hands after doing it figuratively."

Looking him over, Kuroba only had the cut on his arm from earlier and was otherwise uninjured. Conan had to let out a breath. "I'm sorry."

"No big deal." Kuroba shrugged, being careful not to come too close to the blade. "Get some rest. You're still bleeding all over the place and I doubt anyone one here besides me cares about that. Hattori-kun will kill me if you die."

Conan closed his eyes, feeling badly about the situation but there was nothing he could do when he was weaker than a kitten. He closed his eyes, noticing that he hadn't spotted the elf from before. He wondered if Kuroba had killed them back then. He hadn't had time to notice but he had the impression that he had.

…

Conan woke up a second time when they were taken out of the wagon and shoved out. He didn't get his feet under him in time and fell face first into the dirt. Kuroba was faster, having reflexes outside of the game or simply better _because_ of the game. A second later one of them men punched him.

"On the ground!"

Kuroba went to his knees first before going to the ground, an eleven flashing above his head briefly. Conan winced, realizing that Kuroba hadn't gotten sleep to heal his own wounds.

He felt as something cold and metal were put around his ankles, hearing them lock into place. Kuroba met his eyes and indicated backwards, speaking quietly.

" _Can you cast spells with your hands tied?"_

Conan shook his head. Most of the gestures were wide and required him to make larger, if not simple, movements. He could do it with one hand but not with them tied together.

"I can't break out of these easily. If I have some time but-"

But their captors weren't giving them time. Both of them were hauled to their feet, the man holding him more… actually holding him than dragging him along like Kuroba.

They were brought inside of a cave, Conan noticing that the man holding him was the same that he had put to sleep earlier. Sleep. He could cast that but that would do no good if it only affected one of them again.

Conan grinned, his eyes shinning. He spoke in a low tone, danger saturating his every word. " _Let me go."_

The man holding him stopped and let him go. Conan probably should have worded that better as he was once more face to face with the floor. He shifted until he was sitting, his hands still stuck behind him. He noticed the man holding Kuroba had stopped as well, looking confused and a bit worried. " _You can back away from us now. Go back to the wagon, fast_."

The man who had dropped him ran off as fast as he could towards the wagon and Conan turned his attention to the man in front of him. " _Sleep."_

The man fell over, fast asleep.

"Wow. I don't remember that being a spell." Kuroba had fallen to his knees and stood as best he could with his ankles still tied. "How'd you do that?"

"I'm part faerie or something. I won't be able to do that again so don't expect a miracle. See if he has the keys to these." Conan shifted his shoulder, indicating the cuffs.

"That's going to be too hard with my hands tied. Give me a moment." Kuroba knelt down, doing something behind his back that Conan couldn't see. In just a few second he heard the cuffs fall off. A few more seconds and the second set was off too. Kuroba stood with a grin. "Thief, remember?"

Conan stayed still while Kuroba worked his magic on his own cuffs, freeing him

They stood facing into the cave.

"What do you think is in there?"

"Bad news. We should turn around. We're no where near that town you were trying to go to."

"Yeah, I know."

"We're not turning around, are we?"

Conan smirked. "Let's just see what's in there."

…

…

A man, covered in scars and sitting atop a throne littered with the bones of human's was smirking while he watched as the others, chained as the two of them had been, were forced to do whatever he told them.

They hadn't gone very far in the cave before coming across this man, along with some carvings that were more than enough to tell them that this was some type of ruined city, half underground and half collapsed over the years.

The man was larger than the bandits had been and Conan turned to Kuroba. " _Stats_?"

" _He's probably the leader. We don't stand a chance and I mean it. It's like taking on eight of the bandits, and you saw how good we did against only four."_

Conan didn't like it. Fictional or not he wanted to help these people. Some of them were women and children and none of them looked like they'd been treated well. They were covered in dirt and scars and even from this distance he knew they needed a bath.

Kuroba sighed. " _If we really die this time, I'm blaming you_."

" _I'll be at close range with you but use your bow right now. If we take him by surprise than we might be able to win."_

Kuroba stored his dagger and drew out a bow that he'd barely touched. " _I'm better with the dagger but okay."_

Conan waited, making sure there were no other bandits about to jump out, and signaled Kuroba to attack as he spoke the words to his spell.

The arrow struck the man in the shoulder while Conan let loose his three darts of energy, striking the bandit where his heart would be, leaving a small trail of blood. The man stood, staring them down and laughing now that they'd caught his attention.

"Oh, look. Someone thinks that it's funny to shoot at me."

" _We have to run_."

Conan frowned, tuning to Kuroba. The thief met his eyes.

" _I'm serious. There's no way we can take him on alone. We'd need the other two to even have a chance."_

" _I'm not leaving_."

Kuroba shook slightly, watching the man laugh at them, and drew another arrow. " _I'm so going to kill you if we survive this."_ He fired, the second arrow hitting the man and he ignored it as if it were nothing.

"My turn, children. Let me teach you your place."

Conan winced as he ran at them, the same spell back on his lips. He was so sick of losing and this was one fight he truly wanted to win. Fake or not, this was a world he was in and he was going to protect the people in it.

He shot off the darts ones more, drawing more blood. An arrow swept past his face as Kuroba shot off another before the man could get to him, striking right where the dart had been, getting a grunt as the bandit leader pulled it out, readily bleeding now, and swung his own sword almost faster than Conan's eyes could track.

Kuroba screamed, bleeding out of two deep wounds as he fell to his knees, unconscious next to him.

Conan's eyes widened. The man had taken out the thief in only one attack.

No… no, they couldn't lose _that_ fast. He knew he had about as much health as Kuroba and, even wounded, that meant he would last maybe an attack or two if he was incredibly lucky.

Risking his life on that luck, Conan met the man's bloodthirsty eyes and waved his hand, muttering, " _Sleep._ " It was the last good spell he could cast.

The man only laughed, pointing his stained sword at him. "Bad choice, little one. Going up against me was foolish."

Conan yelled, the sword cutting into him and tearing up what was left of his robes. He felt one part slip off his arm as the man's dagger went into his stomach, making him cough up blood.

Standing, though his vision was blurring, Conan stumbled. There was no way he could stop this man. He'd already used the only charm-like spell he could and he didn't have enough to damage him enough to put him down.

While there was little point in fighting, Conan still raised his arms, barely able to cast as it was. " _Eldritch Blast._ "

He heard the man grunt and saw some more blood stain the ground, though the puddle around Kuroba was much larger and his own was growing in size.

"Too bad. You two were kind of interesting."

He felt the sword slash across him again, not conscious long enough to know if there were further attacks.

 _Please,_ he thought. _I don't want to die._


	7. Discovery

**Chapter 7: Discovery**

"Ow."

"Would you kindly stop complaining?" Saguru looked back at Hattori. "You should be thanking me. You would be walking around in circles without me."

"Yeah, and ya'd be dragon chow."

"Point taken."

The dragon has certainly taken him by surprise. It had attacked the town near dawn and they had done little aside from being snatched up by it as it had taken off. Whatever dark portal that had appeared and disappeared right before it had spotted them was a mystery. Hattori-kun, to his ire, had hit the dragon hard enough for it to drop them. The fall into the forest had not been pleasant and they had both nearly died but with the help of a wandering druid they had been saved. He had wished the woman had agreed to come with them. He had gotten some basic directions from her but that had been all.

"I'm glad it didn't drop us on the mountains or anythin', but this is a long walk. Can't you find some of those deer again?"

"If I did I'd want to eat them instead of ride them. We don't have enough food to make the journey back. Walking, at least I can hunt a bit. Besides, can you even handle a deer?"

"Dunno. Forgot how to look at that kind of stuff and Kuroba-kun isn't here."

Saguru was well aware of that fact. While his classmate was normally intolerable, he was much better at this game and knew how this world worked.

"Hey, Hakuba-kun, how are we gonna find those guys?"

"We were directed to the closest town from the mountain pass." Looking to his right, Saguru was using the mountain range as well as the sun for guidance. "From there we can hopefully figure out what town we started in. If not, maybe we can find them there. I was told it was the largest town in this area and we were not taken that far. Odds are we should come across them sooner or later."

Hattori was being annoying with his constant sighing. If he couldn't stand being in his presence, he didn't much care. The trees were at least shielding him from the worst of the sun and he didn't have much trouble navigating. He would rather travel at night but that left them vulnerable to more creatures that were comfortable outside of the sun, and he preferred the ones that they could both see than a repeat of those demons from before.

He didn't have Kuroba to come to his rescue this time.

Saguru stopped, spotting something in the distance that looked like a larger, thinner version of the extinct doo doo bird ahead of them. " _See that?"_

Hattori took a peek around some of the trees that were blocking his view. " _Yep. We gonna eat it?"_

" _Can we fight it first is the question. I don't know this game as well as you do._ "

Hattori snorted. " _I told ya I ain't even played. Ku… ku.. Conan-kun even knows this game better'n I do."_

" _Well then, it is in our way. Do you want to take it on? It doesn't look that deadly."_ That fact was very hard to rely on in this world though. He wasn't sure if bigger meant more deadly or not.

Hattori waved a hand. " _After you."_

Saguru rolled his eyes and took a few steps back so he still had line of sight of the creature but it would run into Hattori first. While his armor was decent, Hattori was the better fighter at close range. He shot off an arrow, catching it hard in the throat and watching the creature weave around in pain, spotting them and charging forward.

Hattori, waving around a rapier that didn't suit him, missed. It didn't really matter as Saguru shot off another arrow and the creature fell to the ground, dead.

"Wow, you know yer pretty good."

Saguru didn't think he'd ever received a compliment from Hattori before. "Thank you." He went over to the large bird, examining it. "This should give us a good meal but we won't be able to take any with us. I'll cook it and start looking from something for us to ride later tonight. I have to sleep less than you and I might as well be doing something."

"I thought we were sleepin' in shifts though."

"You'll be fine for at least an hour and I'll check in on you if I think something's wrong." Saguru took out one of his short swords, wishing he had a dagger or a knife. He'd have to buy one at some point. He doubted they were much money. "Make a fire. I'll be ready shortly."

…

It honestly wasn't that bad traveling with Hattori-kun. He scared off the first couple deer that Saguru had managed to find before agreeing to ride the same animal as him. They made good time and were able to find one of the main roads that lead to town.

Saguru slowed the animal down soon after they had entered it though, stopping and getting off. He checked the ground, his vision going green a moment while he had a better look.

"There was a fight here."

"Really?" Hattori more 'fell' than got off the deer as he went to bend down next to him. "Looks like it was a while ago. That's a lot a blood though."

"Yes." Saguru tipped his head to the side of the road. "There are unmarked graves over there as well. I'm guessing that they were allies of whoever was killed or else their bodies would likely have been left to the animals." He stood up, looking towards the mountain range and frowning. "That woman told me of a cave filled with bandits not far from here. I think we should check it out."

"Heck no. Even I ain't that stupid. There's only two 'a us."

"Yes, but this," Saguru kicked some of the dirt where the blood had turned black. The smell was unpleasant. "Was done with fire."

Hattori took notice at that and stood up. "Ya think it's them?"

"I don't know but this is the road to the main town. If they had the same idea that I did, they were likely on this road."

"Damn it, why's 'e always 'ave ta get in trouble when I ain't around?" Hattori punched his fist into his open hand. "Those bandit better jus' hope they didn't do nothin' ta him."

"As I said, I'm not certain it was them." As the 'heroes' in this story though, Saguru found it hard to believe there were others going around throwing fire magic.

It was nice to hope though.

…

" _I can't see._ "

" _There are lanterns up ahead. Just wait a moment."_ Saguru had had trouble finding the cave. By the time they had gotten to it, night had fallen in the forest around them. He noticed two guards near the entrance, laid back and speaking happily about something. " _There are two. Human by the looks of them. They have scimitars."_

" _Great. Ya get 'em first an' I'll follow up. Let's try an' be quiet."_

That was the idea of sneaking into somewhere. Saguru drew an arrow back, narrowing his eyes and aiming at the guard on the left. " _They can't see us this far. I have the advantage in the darkness. Just do as I say when I say it."_

Saguru shot the arrow, hitting the guard in the chest with it and watching him fall to his knees. He quickly nocked another arrow, hitting the second man in the upper part of the shoulder before he turned, the kneeling one looking towards where his shots had come from.

"Who's there?!"

So much for quiet. Saguru tried not to fumble with another arrow as both men started off in his direction, felling the injured man and causing the other to stop in his tracks, staring down at his fallen ally.

"Help!" he screamed, running back towards the cave. "We're under attack!"

Saguru shot an arrow into his back, bringing him down as well just as he entered the cave.

"Damn it." He straightened out, checking his arrows over. "I was hoping he wouldn't cause this much trouble. We'll stay here and see if anyone else comes out. If they do I'll take care of them. I'm going to need to get more arrows soon. I was unable to buy a second quiver with all the gold we spent in town."

"Kuroba-kun's probably got a bunch you could use. I almost never see 'im use that bow of his." Hattori was facing towards the hideout though couldn't see more than the flame flickering in the distance. "Ya think leavin' those guys there is the best idea?"

"They shouted before I could stop them. As long as I make sure to take out anyone that comes out to investigate first and no one witnesses it, I can move the bodies later and we should be able to sneak in. I would like it if you could remove your armor but I know that that isn't going to happen."

"Nope."

"Then it will be less 'sneaking' and more stopping anyone who gets in our way." Saguru had to smile. He may be getting more confident now that he had several new abilities that he hadn't had to turn to before, but he was logical before that. "If we run into something we can't handle and I tell you to run, you run. You told Conan-kun the same and I expect to be listened to."

"Only cause ya kin see better'n I can right now, I'll listen ta ya. No point dyin' here 'er fer nothin'."

Saguru nodded, drawing another arrow and waited. He left it a good ten minutes, making sure no one else was going to exit, before lowering the arrow.

"I just realized that you're the close range fighter and I'm going to have to stand in front of you if you can not see."

"They're human, right? That means there'll be torches. I'm good."

Saguru nodded, keeping his bow at the ready. Once he reached the entrance to the cave he peeked in, scanning it in a green glow just to make sure no one was there. It seemed, as he noticed while they were traveling in the forest, that enemies could hide themselves as well.

Dragging the body close to the entrance away, Saguru checked it once more, walking in slowly. " _At least_ try _and hide yourself."_

" _Will do_."

Now that Saguru was looking he saw a light haze about them when they spoke that they were going to hide. He supposed that was the way that it had to look, since they could clearly see one another. It seemed when they did it _when they were not in sight of one another,_ they could not see each other. He had frightened Hattori a few times when he'd returned from hunting.

No one was along the passage that led to a larger room. Saguru couldn't fail to notice the corpses everywhere. There were bones of people ranging from children to the elderly. He took a minute to walk over, inspecting them, and felt sickened.

Unable to speak or it would reveal him to anyone that _could_ spot him, Saguru stood and had a look around.

He couldn't miss the blood that had been at the edge of the passage they had entered. There was no fire this time but it was fresh enough that it couldn't have been more than a few days old. There were other marks, blood staining the rocky floor here and there, but they were older, some having changed the physical color of the stone with the help of time.

Saguru put a finger up to his lips when Hattori met his eyes and looked like he wanted to speak. He wasn't sure he could see him but he should have been able to sense the motion. He went on through a connecting tunnel, stopping when it splintered off into two directions. He put a hand lightly on the metal armor, silently telling Hattori to stay while he checked around. It was easier than waking up the whole place.

The first door he came to was woodened and didn't fit well into the grooves of the stone around it. Inside were a few sleeping men, one of them snoring. Saguru closed the door, happy that there were no lights here to give him away. It seemed that those sleeping hadn't kept the lanterns going.

Further on he found a weapons room, ignoring it aside from picking up a dagger he could use later. There was also a small pool that seemed to be used as a bath. He debated bathing himself, knowing he wanted one badly, before walking away. Time and place.

The tunnel ended a short ways off from that, some of the marks fresh. They must slowly have been extending it. He had noticed most of it looked like it had been inhabited before the current ones had taking up lodgings. There were pillars that didn't match and some rooms looked like they were half collapsed still.

Returning to Hattori, Saguru went the other way. He had to stop soon, finding a stairway. He debated going down it by himself, as it was tinted slightly darker to his eyesight and Hattori would be blind.

It was better not to go alone though and he returned, holding the dark skinned teen's hand and leading him slowly down the stairs, trying to help him find his footing in the dark.

They reached the bottom and Saguru had to put a hand to his nose to block out the smell. If something had died years ago and been left to rot it wouldn't smell as bad as whatever the putrid odor that was sneaking it's way through his mouth now was.

There were a few more wooden doors, more tightly fitted than the pervious ones. Whatever was on the other side of them was lost to him as the doors were locked and he hadn't wanted to spend money on lock picking tools, since Kuroba had a pair of his own.

Saguru was forced to pass them up and, going forward, he came to large circular room, iron bars covering cavities in the walls that seemed to serve as cells. There were about twelve of them and Saguru didn't miss the skeletons of three people chained together in the first one.

No wonder it smelled so bad. He wondered how much death these halls held and for how long.

There was a woman crying. He could barely catch it, as she seemed to be trying to be silent. He followed the sound, seeing a few of the cells were occupied, and settled in front of the woman.

She was young, maybe in her twenties, and besides her was the dead body of a man. He seemed around her age and he was clearly dead, even to eyes that weren't as good as his own. The woman held his hand to her face and wept.

It was horrible. Saguru found himself searching the bars for a way they could be opened. Hattori was strong and could likely break them but he didn't want the guards all running in here.

There was a space, not a few inches from the wall, where a key would go. Saguru followed the lines and logic and noticed that the bars didn't go up, they moved to the side. There was a groove in the stone that must let them when the lock was released.

 _Damn it, Kuroba. Where are you when I need you?_

"Hakuba-kun?"

Saguru spun, one hand reaching for an arrow, when the voice rang enough bells. "Kuroba-kun?"

Kuroba laughed a brittle, tired little laugh. "Jeez, I thought they caught you too."

Saguru stood, leaving Hattori where he was. It was better for him not to see this anyway. Hattori grew too angry and became irrational when death was involved.

Standing in front of the cell that Kuroba was in, along with Conan, his winced. There was blood all over the floor and the walls of the small enclosure, some droplets even reaching the ceiling.

The thief's outfit was ripped to pieces and soaked in it. Conan wasn't in much better shape, his robe half hanging off of him and showing the deep gashes in his skin. The thief shook as he got to his feet and barely took a step over to him, looking around.

" _It's just Hattori-kun and me."_

Kuroba nodded, half falling into the bars and sliding down to the floor. " _Can't pick the lock, can you? I can't reach it."_ Kuroba dug into his pockets and brought out his tools. " _Here. Try."_

Saguru took the pouch. " _Are you alright?"_

Kuroba shook his head, shaking as he did. " _We're hurt pretty bad. They won't give us time to recover more than to be conscious for a few hours before attacking us again."_ Now that Saguru was looking, Kuroba was constantly shaking, just not as notably as when he moved. " _Haven't had anything to eat or drink in a few days either."_

Saguru took the tools, unsure if he'd be able to do this. He knew the basics of picking locks and this game would give him no further information on it since he didn't specialize in it. He felt sick, wishing they had had something that would keep but he hadn't made it to a town so he had nothing to give them. " _Sorry_."

" _Not your fault."_ Kuroba tried to stand up again to move away from the bars and fell not a few feet from it, breaths harsh and slow as he tried to keep them quiet. " _Going to need some help walking out of here though."_

" _Hattori-kun can carry you. I can take Conan-kun._ " That was if he could get the lock open at all. He felt the tool knick something and fall out of his hand, clattering to the floor before he picked it up again. " _Give me a minute. I'm new at this."_

" _Take your time. I think you have maybe ten minutes."_

Saguru swallowed. " _What?"_

" _Didn't I just say they don't let us stay conscious? They'll be back down here soon. We've been awake for a while."_

That was pushing things. Saguru was _not_ in the mood for winding up like the two of them. He removed the tools, putting them back in the pouch and pocketing them. " _I'm sorry for this then. I doubt we'd have time to escape with you if they sound the alarm and we can't take this whole place on with the two of you near unconscious. I'll be back shortly."_

Kuroba nodded, his eyes lidded. " _Don't get caught_."

" _I won't_."

Saguru went over and grabbed Hattori's hand, quickly heading for the door. They could wait near the mouth of the cave. If the guards hadn't been noticed, it was the only place that would be free of enemies.

" _What's goin' on?"_

" _Shhh. Hide, I'll explain in a few minutes."_ Saguru had to hurry. If someone was headed this way he didn't want to be stuck in a passage when he was the only one that could fight in the darkness.

He didn't stop until they reached the outside air once more where he took in a large breath and sat against the rough mountainside the cave found it's home in. "This is horrible."

"What? All I heard was Kuroba-kun an' I didn't feel like stumblin' around in the dark. What happened? Was Conan-kun there? Why didn't ya grab anyone?"

"They were locked inside of a cell. I was unable to pick the lock quickly enough. We'll go back in in the next hour." He wanted to be sure he wouldn't be greeted by anyone too soon. "They're not in good condition. I'm going to grab Conan-kun because carrying Kuroba-kun is too hard for me. I'll hand him to you and lead the way out."

Hattori nodded, not looking too happy. "These guys are gonna pay."

Yes, Saguru had to agree, they were. Besides their friends there were a lot of people suffering in there and dying in there. He looked to the side, at the person he had killed when they had entered, his eyes roaming to move to the second as well.

He had killed people. Until that second Saguru hadn't really thought about it. These weren't really people… were they? They couldn't be. It didn't make sense if they were.

Then why did he care about those besides his two friends in there?

Shaking his head, Saguru closed his eyes. "I'm going hunting. Stand guard here and make sure no one sees you. If something happens, shout. I'll hear you."

Hattori nodded and Saguru stood up, looking towards the forest. While he had time to spar the least he could do was set up camp and get food for the other two. He could only imagine how it felt and what he was allowing to happen while he was making sure that he and Hattori were safe. If there had been any other choice, he would have taken it.

…

A dead deer, a small campfire, and an hour later, Saguru was back and at the entrance.

"Odds are neither will be conscious and if they are, they still won't be anything but a burden. It's better if we travel in the darkness so I can see any lights coming. Keep close to me."

A nod and they were back off the way they had come. Knowing the layout changed everything and Saguru was able to move more quickly through the tunnels.

He arrived back at the area he had left, having Hattori let him go as he went back to the cell. Kuroba was sprawled out on the floor, a fresh pool of blood under him and a nasty looking stomach wound. Conan didn't seem like he was bleeding but he was unconscious and there was a dark mark on his cheek.

Working on the lock again, Saguru took his time. He had a while to work on it now and it was getting to be early morning. Even those tasked with looking after these two would want decent sleep.

It took him a lot longer than he thought it would before the door finally clicked open. He hadn't imagined that it would be so difficult. The game should have made things like this possible as long as you had the tools.

" _You really suck,"_ he heard Kuroba say, his voice small and even weaker sounding than it had been earlier.

" _Yes, well we all have our strengths."_ He went over to the thief, the other's wounds severe. They should have healed while he slept but it seemed even the older ones were still in place. " _Why are you still hurt?"_

Kuroba shook his head slightly. " _I'm starving. I'm surprised the bleeding even stops."_ He moved to get up but it didn't look like he could even do that this time. Saguru went under one arm, half lifting him and hearing Kuroba bite back a scream.

" _This isn't going to be pleasant. Are you going to be alright?"_

Kuroba nodded, swaying on the edge of consciousness.

" _Here. Gimme_." Hattori held his hands out. Saguru was fairly sure that he could carry Kuroba that way but the fact was that he, personally, could not. So he led his friend over, placing the upper half of his body in Hattori's hold so the teen could pick him up the rest of the way. It didn't surprise him at all when Kuroba passed out in his arms.

" _I won't pass out."_ Conan had remained quiet. He hadn't even been sure he was awake until he took a few steps inside the cell. He lifted him up, holding him as Hattori was Kuroba.

Looking the boy over, he had less scars. There were some sword wounds but just a few, his clothes having been cut by those. The newer marks were dark and looked like he'd been punched or kicked more than a few times, leaving less blood than Kuroba.

" _You can. I don't plan on being spotted. I've already been in and out of here twice. The guards won't be replaced until the morning in all likelihood, so we need to get out of here now."_ Saguru moved in front of Hattori, wondering how this was going to work. Their hands were full so neither could hold on to the other.

" _Prestidigitation_ ," Conan spoke softly.

Saguru watched as a very faint glow appeared in the boy's hand, almost sparking. It was just shy of blinding him and Conan put his other hand over the top of it so that most of the light was aimed to the side. It made a perfect beacon for Hattori and it looked like he could easily cover it up if he had to.

" _Thank you, Conan-kun_."

Conan nodded, his eyes half closed. Saguru was worried about the both of them. They were hurt badly and hadn't eaten in days. He wasn't sure how much it would take for them to die and he still wasn't sure if that would really kill them or not.

Once they exited the cave he kept going. While Conan had promised he wouldn't fall asleep he couldn't help but notice when one of the boy's hands went slack and the light was in his eyes. Apparently being unconscious didn't stop his spell.

His small campfire was a good ways away from the cave. He didn't want to be interrupted by any angry visitors out for vengeances, and had placed it in a dense part of the forest.

Before they even got there he heard a string of swears from Hattori.

Making sure nothing had invaded his camp while he was gone, Saguru took a moment to scan the area. Letting out a breath he slowly put Conan down.

Only for Hattori to pick him right back up.

He watched the other teen check the boy over, finding the same wounds he had and swearing some more. The campfire was enough light to see by and he placed the boy slowly down on the floor – Saguru not about to say that that had been what he had just done – and went for his pack.

"Hattori-kun, I'm going to go look for herbs to make a healing potion. See if you can't get them to eat. They were just awake and it's better to temporarily wake them and get them some food than not."

Rummaging around, Hattori came away with some bandages he hadn't noticed the other had gotten. "Will do."

Saguru was getting tired but he couldn't rest yet. He went off, hoping that a forest this large would have what he needed.


	8. Retribution

**Chapter 8: Retribution**

While he had gotten the potions and Hattori had gotten them to eat, their health had refused to go as high as it should. Both were currently sleeping and while this strange fact would easily be answered by Kuroba, he didn't have the heart to wake him.

"Ya know, those guys are gonna pay fer this."

"We need all of us for that to happen. Kuroba-kun is the one who knows how to play this game and the two of them lost. Compared to them we're novices. We won't stand a chance alone."

"I know. He'll want ta stop 'em anyway." Hattori tipped his head towards Conan.

He had to imagine Kuroba would want at these people as well. Being a child, Saguru would have thought Conan knew more about this game than he did. While Kuroba was a kid at heart and fully not part of the 'norm' for their own generation, the younger one he had pictured far into the rising technology, consoles, and cell phones than them, as they were not available when he was that age.

"We'll figure this out once they wake up. Dawn will be here soon so go to sleep. I'll sleep afterwards. I'd rather sleep the afternoon away and I really need it."

"Ya only sleep four hours, right?" Hattori tipped his head. "'er need ta, anyway. Go ahead an' sleep too. I doubt those guys will be up an' ready ta take anythin' on by the time ya wake so we should be fine."

That was a very dangerous sentiment, but he was too tired and emotionally worn out to argue. Hattori would want to leave the second they woke up in any case so he found himself leaning against a nearby tree and falling asleep.

…

Kuroba was up before he was, digging through his pack.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"They took all my stuff and I know you bought a second pair of clothes." Kuroba found what he was looking for, taking out the black outfit that he had brought as back up if his current one became impossible to wear. He had no shame in changing right in front of him and Saguru looked away after a while, seeing the scars that still remained on the thief's body.

"Will those heal?"

"I don't know." Kuroba fixed the robe over his shoulders. "I got them while I was exhausted so I'm pretty sure they're scars now."

"Only in the game, right?"

"Probably. I'm sure I'm not going to be keeping these scales." Kuroba smirked at him. "What's with that look?"

"I feel bad. I could have freed you before more were added to your collection."

"Yeah, but then we all would have gotten caught. Don't worry, you made the right decision, and some of this _is_ still a game. I'm up to go use the bathroom right now though – which I'm pretty sure _isn't_ part of the game. Think you can get us some breakfast? I wasn't able to eat much last night."

"Sure." Saguru stood, closing one eye at the sun. "I hate the day."

Kuroba snickered. "Yeah, so do I. Bandit's usually don't come out during the night. Maybe we can talk the other two into traveling with a lantern and becoming nocturnal."

It was drastic, the change in his friend, but Saguru recalled the strange thing about their health. "Question. I noticed that your heath wouldn't go to full. Why?"

" _I'm exhausted still_ ," Kuroba replied more quietly. He took in and let out a breath. "It will be a while until we're at full again and ready to take on normal opponents. Right now we could probably face a rabbit and that's about it."

"Oh." That was news. "You should likely tell Hattori-kun this. He wanted to confront those bandits and I'm unsure he's aware of the state you're both in."

Kuroba nodded. "It will be five days at least until we're well enough for something like that, four if we make sure that no one's going to be grabbing us or anything. We can do it on four." Kuroba walked off. "Breakfast, remember?"

"Yes, I said I was on it." Saguru stood, taking a breath and looking into the woods. Since when did he become the housekeeper?

…

Conan woke a little before Hattori, more than happy to have at some of the snow rabbits that Hakuba seemed to have caught. There was no snow around here but he had noticed a mountain range when they had reached the bandit camp. They had likely come from there.

"Does rabbit really taste like this?" Kuroba took some of the animal, Hakuba having cooked them whole – aside from some missing limbs that wouldn't have cooked well – and waved what was left of the body around.

"They do. Why?"

Kuroba shrugged. "Tastes kind of like chicken but saltier. I've never had it before."

"I don't think it tastes like chicken." Conan looked his rabbit over. It very much tasted and looked like a rabbit. He didn't think he could compare it to a chicken. "Maybe you just have strange tastes."

Kuroba thanked him for his insight by sticking his tongue out at him.

Conan took a few more bits, looking towards Hattori's sleeping form. "How long have we been out?"

"Just a few hours. Kuroba-kun woke me a bit after he was up and I must have gotten enough rest because I do not feel tired. Hattori-kun should wake in the next hour or two."

Conan nodded, looking over his shoulder. None of them were able to see the mountain range through the overhanging trees but he knew it was behind him somewhere by the way Hakuba scanned that direction first whenever there was a strange noise.

"Are we going to go get our things?"

Kuroba shook his head. "We'll be at a pretty big disadvantage. You only just woke up." He tipped his head towards a tree behind him. "Stand up a moment."

Conan was confused but he did as he was told. He didn't feel all that bad but he knew he could sleep a bit still.

"Run to the tree."

Conan frowned, trying to gauge if he was serious. Kuroba wasn't smiling anymore so he changed his stance and ran to the tree.

He didn't think he would have made it if the tree were any further than it was.

His lungs burned as he ran and the second he reached the tree he noticed he was panting. He turned, letting himself sit at the base of it. "What the heck?"

"We're exhausted, both literally and in the game. Constitution or not, we had no water in there. We won't be going anywhere for a while."

Conan mentally swore and clenched his fist. "There's no way around this?"

Kuroba shook his head. "We couldn't move yesterday. That was healed while we slept last night. We'll get our health back tonight. It'll be two more nights after that before we're able to move normally again."

"Then we just stay in the back. You have a bow and I have spells. I'm sure-"

"Hold on you squishy wizard." Kuroba picked up a stick and threw it so it was obvious where it lay on the ground. "You have a non-fire attack, right? Use something quiet and hit the stick. See what happens. Objects have little defense against an attack and it should just blow up if you hit it. I'm honestly expecting you to, but I want you to see what happens."

Conan wasn't sure what this test was about but assumed Kuroba only wanted him to use one attack, and his 'quiet' one hit multiple times. That also took magic he didn't want to spend so he was up to trying an attack he never expected to use.

" _Chill Touch_ ," he called out softly, waving his hand in a short, curt motion.

Conan watched as the hand appeared, a faint red pulsating light accompanying it that he hadn't read about. He noticed the same red pulsing faintly around his vision as well, even as the twig broke in half and seemed to rot before him.

"What was that?"

"Disadvantage. You hit it anyway, it was weak, but we're going to be missing a lot more than we already were if we go into battle now."

Oh. That sucked. Conan put his hand to his head and let out a breath. "So we can barely move and we're going to have to send a few days in the woods, no where near town, with bandits nearby."

"More or less. I can get us to town but it would be better to wait. There's nothing we can't get here that we can't get in town."

Point. Hakuba-kun was proving to be a great help in that matter. He could likely find a way to make sure they were safe during the night along with keeping them fed and sheltered. He looked over the other detective, his hood up and hiding too pale hair and too dark skin. "Thank you."

Hakuba met his eyes and gave him a wary smile. "You're welcome."

…

"Ya find anything?"

Saguru stood still, his eyes closed to help him better pinpoint all the small bleeps in his head. "A herd of deer that will be too hard to take on alone. There's a family of rabbits near here but they're all sleeping, most of them too young to bother with. There are several foxes but they're roaming and it will be hard to get ahead of them and I'll likely lose track of them."

"Ya know how creepy it is that ya just _know_ this stuff?"

"It's magic now be quiet." It made him feel better to stretch out his hand as if sorting through all the information. With six miles and dozens and dozens of animals to sort through in only a minute, he needed concentration. It was easier to hunt when the sun was going down, so he could catch something for the next day, but the darkness always seemed to make Hattori even less patient than he already was.

 _And what was that?!_

"Unfriendly company." Saguru opened his eyes, letting go of his concentration. "Less than a mile away. It likely smelled our camp. It seems to be some type of large wolf." He reached behind him, drawing out a bow. "And it doesn't seem all that friendly."

Hattori's small weapon didn't seem to match his armor at all though he grinned as if coming face to face with a giant wolf were the most entertaining thing in the world. "We got this."

Saguru wasn't as optimistic and took a step back, planning on hitting it before it could reach them but not about to be the first thing in the creature's path.

The sounds of twigs breaking as the large beast shot between the trees reached him before he saw it. He narrowed his eyes, his bow ready. The thing he saw was easily twice the size of a normal wolf and he had to swallow, wondering when he wound up in the Hound of the Baskervilles story and knowing this one was very real – as far as his reality currently stretched.

He stayed silent, waiting for a better shot. The creature decided it knew where its prey was and started dashing slightly off to their left.

Saguru shot, hitting it in the flank and making the creature yelp as it tripped over its feet a moment, its eyes angry and hungry as they found where its pain had come from, the large wolf ignoring the trail and coming after the two of them.

Saguru drew another arrow easily and shot at the wolf, missing it as it dodged behind a tree. Hattori didn't wait for the wolf to get closer, as most of their strategies had involved him running forward into danger while Saguru stayed at a safe distance.

He watched as the rapier pierced into the wolf's chest and the animal snapped in return, sinking its teeth through the platting in the armor and pulling hard, making the dark-skinned teen yelp and fall to the floor.

Not worrying about the other teen, as that often distracted him and caused him to either miss due to his nerves or distract him from his surroundings, Saguru drew another arrow, and fired. It hit the wolf in the shoulder and he watched it blink back its own pain as Hattori stood up, stabbing it in the heart – or where Saguru had to assume the animal's heart was.

It fell, blood quickly staining the grass, as it no longer took breath. Saguru slung the bow over his shoulder to check on the damage. "How hurt are you?"

Hattori resituated his armor, a fairly deep wound underneath it. "Got me good but I could probably take on another."

"It's a good thing we don't have to test that theory out." Saguru knelt beside the animal. The skeletal structure was large and there was a lot of meat. He'd have to melt some more snow to get fresh water but this should keep them a few days if he froze it in portions. "I doubt we'll have to do this again for a while. Do you think you can carry it?"

"Sure thing."

While Hattori tended to be rather thoughtless in battle, there really wasn't much to think on. His recklessness was what they needed, as Saguru knew he couldn't take the front lines. His strength was also rather astounding. He watched him, even bogged down with his heavy armor, lift the wolf's paws over a shoulder and drag it towards him. His wound bled steadily but he showed no signs of noticing it.

"So, are we going to actually keep all of this one?"

"Yes. We have a bit of a walk." Saguru was sure that there was no larger game that stood between them and the mountain pass where the snow tended to remain, out of sight of the harsh sun. He could not be sure the bandits were not going to be in their path though. As wonderful as it was that he could tell the insides and outsides of the forest, that only applied to nature. Monsters and humans alike remain outside his perception.

…

Conan was so bored. Eating and sleeping and playing poker - since apparently Kuroba had a deck of cards - would have bored anyone. For someone who currently felt fine but wasn't allowed to go far it was like being chained to the ground.

He couldn't help it when he was up before dawn on the day that Kuroba said he could leave and was impatiently tapping his foot and waiting for Hattori to wake up, along with Hakuba-kun who had just gotten off of guard duty and was getting rest.. He and Kuroba could see in the dark but he refused a card game while the thief made them appear and disappear.

That gave Conan an idea.

"Hey, how much of our own talents stayed with us?"

"Hmmm. Well, I'm sure I've noticed some of Hattori-kun's attacks look like something out of Kendo, so anything relatable I suppose stayed."

"You didn't put any skills into something that would help you with magic tricks, did you?"

Kuroba looked like he thought on that before bringing up his menu that Conan couldn't see. "Nope, it was one thing I didn't put a skill into. It _is_ kind of dexterity too though, so I'm not sure what would be effected by it for sure. I was never very strong and either were you, so testing anything we could do when it came to strength is a bit pointless. We did base these characters more or less off ourselves, which I'm happy for. Being too different would have made this a lot harder to get used to."

"So you could always see in the dark?"

Kuroba snickered. "Better than you."

That was still something interesting to look into and Conan knew he'd do it at some point. They did have new skills but some of them had old ones, like Kuroba with the cards. Were they no longer able to tap into those if they hadn't put in that skill in the game?

Conan brought up his menu and blinked his eyes at the list of skills there. "Ah, am I supposed to only be skilled in two things?"

Kuroba laughed louder. "Really? Two things? That's all you could get as a wizard? That can't be right. Folk Hero, right?" Kuroba went though the menu himself, looking over several things while Conan waited. "You're supposed to have four. Did you never finish you character sheet or something?"

Conan sighed. "Possibly."

"Pick two more then. Which two do you have?"

"Animal handling and Survival, whatever that means."

"It means a lot." Kuroba raised an eyebrow. "You finally picked a good skill. I have no idea why you only took the Folk Hero ones though. You have to pick two for you wizard class."

Conan went back though his menu and looked over the ones he could choose from. "Which ones are better?"

"Hmm…" Kuroba went quiet. "I'd take medicine, just because that means that if Hakuba isn't around for some reason, you're skilled enough to make sure we don't die, but that's just me. 'History' is about the only thing I wouldn't pick, as that really doesn't matter much to us right now."

"And 'investigation'?"

Kuroba chuckled. "Knew you'd want that one. That's for puzzles, not for finding anything in particular. It's for noticing irregularities and _sometimes_ for noticing things like detectable magic or finding out where something was from. It's not all that important, since 'perception' works better, but you'll probably take it anyway."

Conan thought on that. There was no way this game could alter his mind, could it? Either way, that was a skill he personally had so he saw no reason to make it one the game had to give him. "I'll take the medicine. What else?"

Kuroba looked slightly surprised before turning back to the options. "If it were me in your place… I'd take 'insight' or 'arcana'. Since I already have insight myself, I'd go with the later. It will let you recognize spells, even if you haven't cast them yourself."

"Alright." Conan clicked on both 'medicine' and 'arcana', watching them light up green a moment before being added to his skill list. "I wish I'd known that earlier."

"They made sure we didn't die and so far no one has thrown magic around besides you. It wouldn't have made much of a difference." Kuroba laid against the tree, watching the sky. "It might in the future though, so chalk that up to good luck that you noticed it now."

…

Kaito found himself half napping. Talking with the little detective felt more like he was a teacher, explaining a very simple game to someone who should have read the rules before playing it. He knew he was only thinking that because he'd already done this once, and it hadn't been that easy the first time around, so he let it go.

Hakuba woke before Hattori and they all had to wait for the other, eating a bit of the leftover food from earlier so that they wouldn't be hungry. Hakuba at least took him on in a game of cards that he quickly lost, but it was better than watching someone sleep and Conan was making him tense.

The sun was an hour or two from rising when Hattori finally got up and they got their stuff together, planning this out this time. Kaito knew what a bad idea it was for Conan to have talked him into staying the last time so he made sure that he became the unquestioned leader this time around. Hattori would be in the front and Kaito would be sneaking a few feet behind him, in sight of him. They'd take on whomever they came across, hopefully while they were asleep. They all agreed that none of these bandits should be allowed to leave their hideout again.

Hakuba though, Kaito noticed, looked vaguely sick when he and Conan had brought up the ability to simply knock them out instead. Apparently the detective really hadn't been playing the game, and Kaito had to assure him anyway that he wasn't sure if things still worked that way here.

Since his weapons were gone, Hakuba gave him his short sword. No one seemed to have a dagger for him to use so he was going to be at a bit of a disadvantage, as he could wield another weapon or a heavier one, but he'd fix that when he got his pack back. It seemed all they didn't care about keeping had been his cards, and those had been in his pocket.

With Hattori leading them, they had to supply him with some sort of light. Kaito made that easy by grabbing a rock off the ground and casting a light spell on it, handing it over. All he'd really had to do was touch it and say 'light'.

"Wow, I didn' know ya could do that."

"I haven't had the chance to show it off yet. It was one of the spells that came with the scales. Anyway, since you can see them they'll be able to see you. Being short a weapon myself and no one else able to go first, are you okay with that?"

Hattori nodded, holding the small stone near the hilt of his rapier, the weapon drawn. "I'm ready."

They went slowly but Hattori was loud. Hakuba was a bit better at it but even he made noise now and then that startled Kaito in the near silence around them. He had no idea the layout of this place but Hakuba seemed to, when he ran up to Hattori and made him go one way instead of another. If Kaito had known Hakuba knew this place the best, he may have put him in front. No one liked telling him anything.

They came to a few rooms, Hattori looking in them. The first was empty but the second had people, their obvious shifting and groaning from being faced with a bright light source waking any that weren't sleeping. Kaito couldn't see them around the door but he could hear them, and he didn't miss Hattori running in to attack.

Kaito ran in after him, going after one of the two men he found on the other side of the doorway that were standing closest to Hattori. It looked like Hattori had already hit one, the man before him bleeding from a cut near his stomach.

He didn't like it being people. Fighting humans in the game was one thing. Fighting humans up close and personal and _going to kill them_ was something else. He missed, swearing at the fact that he only had a short sword to work with, and taking a quick step back away from the man so he couldn't reach him. While no one else could really run from someone, _he_ could do it safely. Kaito wished he had shared that himself but hopefully no one else would try it.

Hakuba was behind him, his bow literally right next to his face which startled him a moment. The arrow even had a breeze brush past him as it sunk into the startled man's shoulder, forcing him back and almost to his knees.

It felt horrible. Kaito didn't know just how unprepared he was for this. _It's a game. It's a game. It's a game_. He had to keep telling himself this. If these people were real somehow… What other choice did they have even if they were?

Conan was able to lay down to see his targets. Normally Kaito would have never allowed a teammate to make themselves so vulnerable but it was late. If back up were coming, they'd see the light before he had to worry about it.

Conan nearly burned Hakuba when he threw the flame that he'd made appear, Kaito hearing him curse when he hit the bed instead of the man, starting it on fire.

 _That_ was going to get some attention.

" _Shit,_ " Kaito swore quietly as well. " _We have to put that out._ " After the fighting.

The wounded man reached for his side, taking out his own jagged sword as his partner did as well, if not a bit slower. The two that were in bed were on their feet, drawing their own weapons.

"Get the intruders," the unwounded one in the front commanded the others, the confines of the room not hindering them as much as their group, considering they were stopped very near the door and the others had the interior to work with.

Three swords went at Hattori and Kaito winced, trying to dodge one going for his face. He had hoped they'd all go for Hattori but thankfully he ducked in time and he saw a splash of blood a few feet from him as Hattori couldn't seem to dodge all three.

He looked but couldn't really see where they had gotten him, just knowing he would have rather have gone for the wounded man instead of being forced to get the one in front of him as he swung back. He got a nice, deep cut that tore through the leather armor the man was wearing, thanking Hakuba silently for being so close to him.

That _also_ meant Hakuba was going to have a harder time attacking but he didn't seem to care about that, shooting the bandit and the both of them watching as the man fell to the floor, a hand to his bleeding chest and an arrow in his side.

 _Later. Lets think about all of this later._

Conan, thankfully not shooting fire anymore, sent out little bolts of light that he hadn't seen him use before. They all hit one of the men on Hattori.

And the man fell to the ground as if a bolder had hit him.

Wow, Conan just took down one of them in one hit. And here he was about to chew him out for that fire. He was getting better at this, though he still needed to know when it was a _bad_ idea to throw around a flame.

Hattori swung and took out the wounded man, the fire growing steadily bigger and smoke rising to the ceiling.

The last man standing had nowhere to run, looking around for a place to go. He was a bit younger than the others, his eyes scared and his arms shaking slightly.

And they were fighting humans. Real or game, they acted human. It was so hard for him to want to attack him.

The man dropped the sword, putting his hands up. "Plea-please. Please don't kill me."

Kaito twitched, his sword moving with the unintended motion. His body wanted him to move, wanted him to attack, wanted him to end this fight.

Conan, while all of them were deciding want to do, stepped forward, pushing past him and elbowing him in the leg while he did to get by.

He was smaller than a lot of characters in the game would be. There just weren't children, and if there were they never showed up as enemies. He knew that Conan wasn't really a child but some of the things in this game really did relay on age and size, so for now, yes, he was a child.

Raising his hand, Conan muttered something, and the last remaining bandit fell to the floor. Kaito felt his heart clench for a moment before he relaxed, his brain working again.

"You put him to sleep."

Conan turned to him and nodded. "That used one of my good spells though. I'm not going to be nearly as useful as I want to be when we find the man that imprisoned us and the others. I didn't really see any way around it though."

Kaito liked this outcome. He knew the little guy wouldn't always be able to do that but for right now, his peace of mind was happy.

"Come on." Conan went over and started taking the sheets off the bed, stepping on them and using the blood on the floor to help put out the fire. It left an awful smell behind but it did its job. "Lets go find the ringleader behind all of this."


	9. Leader

**AN:** Sorry, was out of town and been having computer issues for a few weeks now. Hopefully, as of today, most of those are gone now  
If there are some mistakes or inconsistencies in this chapter (there shouldn't be many if there are some at all) I'm sorry.

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Leader**

Hattori had been the only one who had gotten hurt in their fight. They had left three men dead and one to wake next to his dead friends for their trouble. It didn't feel as worth it as Kaito had hoped it would.

He wanted to avoid running into any other bandit members but he didn't think he'd want to risk them regrouping and doing this all over again either. The elf from before was still missing and he had a good guess that he'd be near the boss, if they hadn't come across him yet.

After further searching, Kaito quickly found himself correct in his assumption.

The boss's room was obvious when they came to it. The door had an engraving on it of some sort of curling pattern that looked too delicate to be in a place like this. Hakuba was behind him again, to play back up, and Conan had to be or the little guy didn't have a prayer.

Hattori put a hand on the door. "Ready? This thing looks pretty loud an' heavy."

Kaito nodded, the other two nodding as well.

The boss's room, unlike the others, already had a torch lit in it when they walked in. The man that Kaito had been faced with earlier was sitting on the bed, in the far side of a spacious room, while the elf bandit was at a desk in the center against the wall and writing something down.

The man didn't miss them walking in and the elf spun, his sword spinning with him. Apparently they were either used to someone knocking or else not daring to come in at all.

"Oh, look. It's our little escapees. They came back to pay us a visit." The leader grinned and Kaito felt his hand tighten on the short sword. They hadn't found their weapons and he was guessing the boss had them stashed away somewhere in here.

Until just then he hadn't really cared that Conan hadn't had his armor. The others couldn't reach him. Now Kaito wanted to make sure that he didn't get past the door. It seemed Hattori had the same thoughts and it left them rather cramped, with Hakuba barely able to see in and Conan between both Hattori and him.

"Well." The larger man stood up, his arms crossing as he drew out a dagger and a scimitar like last time. That had gotten him in one hit and Kaito felt his body shake slightly. "We really should put you back in your cage."

Hakuba drew his bow faster than they could move, aiming at the elf. They had no plan on who to aim at first and it seemed that he made that decision for them.

The arrow hit the elf in the chest, taking his breath from him and piercing through his armor. Kaito watched him cough blood into his hand and sway, trying to get the arrow out.

The man who was leading him and the others just laughed, pointing his sword at Kaito. "I'll have you both back, and then some. Thank you for bringing your friends here."

He swung at him, Kaito barely dodging out of the way of the blade. He missed the dagger, unable to move away from it, and had to blink a second later when the man withdrew his hand, Hattori now very much in his personal space and somehow… saving him from the attack.

Kaito had to admit, he didn't know much about the fighter class, and that was a new one even to him.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Hattori shifted once more, his rapier looking small compared to the leaders thicker, heavier blade. They caught each other, steel for steel, and the bandit's leader laughed as he knocked Hattori's trust away.

Kaito may have had issues fighting the grunts but he had no issues with trying to kill this man – or at least, if he did, they stayed quiet in the back of his mind. He swore as he missed with the short sword, wanting to throw it to the ground in anger.

Kaito tried not to scream, knowing he let out some sort of cry when the injured elf caught his attention, his sword digging in past skin and scales and leaving a large cut on his arm and halfway across his chest.

The elf smirked at his small victory, becoming even louder when the little guy tried to hit him with some weird, electric ball of energy and it went over the elf's head.

"Tsh. Are you alright?"

"Fine." Kaito put a hand up, checking the wound. "It wasn't that bad and I can still hold the sword."

Unlike Conan, Hakuba didn't miss and Kaito watched the elf and the matching second arrow in his chest, fall to the floor.

"You really are dwindling my followers here. I'll make sure you're taught your lesson for that."

 _Why is he only going after me?_ Kaito thought as the man swung at him again. Like before, Hattori blocked the blade from hitting him, but it came at him again and Kaito was sure he screamed this time when it went down between his shoulder and neck and stopped near his stomach. The clothes he'd taken from Hakuba fell down over one arm and Kaito held them up, his vision blurring a bit.

"Damn it." Hattori was getting ticked off but there wasn't much they could do. They hadn't even _hurt_ the leader yet. All that happened was Hattori missed.

Blinking back the pain and baring his teeth, Kaito knew he had to get back. He'd lose if he was hit once more and the bandit leader could just do what they had done to him with Conan, and threaten to kill him. Hakuba had worse armor though and Conan couldn't be out front on matter what. There wasn't much room to change all of their positions without being vulnerable.

Raising his own sword, Kaito felt the man's blade come in contact with his, stopping the attack and sending a ringing sensation down his arm before he slide his weapon aside.

Conan did something behind him and Kaito watched as a dark blackness seemed to come out of no where and sink into the leader's skin, looking like it confused him just as much as Kaito as to what the little wizard did.

Whatever it was it didn't seem to hurt him and Conan's attack that he _did_ know zoomed past the leader just as it had done his underling.

Conan had some really bad luck in this game, not that Kaito was one to talk.

Maybe he had jinxed them or something because Hakuba missed right after that, aiming for the leader now that there was no one else to deal with. The man himself found this all very amusing and Kaito winced, trying to draw back a little as the large man swung at him again. "Don't worry, I'll get your friends too."

…

Heiji knew he had tried, shoving the man's attack away only for him to swing at Kuroba again. He watched his newly made friend fall to the ground and start bleeding all over it. He hand tightened on his rapier, wondering how they were ever supposed to get past any of this when the one person who knew more about the game than the rest of them was unconscious… Hopefully he was unconscious. It didn't sound like the man was in it to kill him.

Hattori missed when he tried to attack, though the weird magic that went over his shoulder as well as the arrow both hit the man, winging him and the guy didn't even seem to care.

In fact, the guy just brushed off his shoulder where the arrow had cut him a little. "Oh, look, you've scratched me." Then there was a second where he lost his breath and Heiji noticed the weird black smoke form earlier appear on his skin a moment. "What the?"

"It's a curse. Have fun with it."

Heiji looked back at Kudo-… Conan. Sure they hadn't been in any fights together since they had leveled but that was pretty cool.

He didn't have much time to really think on much when the bandit doofus got ticked off and swung wildly at him. Heiji blocked or dodged everything that was thrown at him, ticking off the man even more. The grin might not have helped but Heiji couldn't help it. For once, someone wasn't getting the better of him.

It was hard, both with the way the man was moving now, caring less about being in charge and more about just squashing them like bugs. The fact that they were missing him a lot wasn't helping and Heiji held in a cry when the man's dagger got him in the side. He tried to return the favor only to be stopped and his attack thrown aside, Kudo barely touching the guy and Hakuba missing him by a hair.

Slowly, the bandit started to get his composure back. "You know, little man, once you go down those friends hiding behind you won't stand much of a chance. They don't look very strong. How about you give up now and I don't kill you. I may want your little redheaded mutt, but you are of no interest to me. The dark elf behind you though I _might_ be interested in. I won't kill them."

"Hell no." Heiji wasn't about to back down, not now. He couldn't take Kuroba with him and running was out of the question. Surrender would be the same as losing right now. "Yer crazy."

"I did try." The leader avoided his armor as Heiji tried to dodge, failing as his sword dug deep in his stomach and almost forced him to his knees. Heiji started breathing harder, holding a hand to the serious wound. "Do you want to die so badly?"

Why? Why were they losing so badly? Kuroba wouldn't have let them come here if he thought this would happen. At least, he didn't think he would. Right now everything hurt and Heiji was angry. No way could Kudo take care of himself with no armor or scales or nothing. Even with them, Kuroba had fallen.

" _We should run_ ," Hakuba spoke up behind him, almost in his ear.

Hattori looked down at Kuroba. He could barely tell the guy was breathing and he really didn't look that good. They'd be leaving him here, again, if they ran. And he wasn't even sure if they could get away from this guy. The other two might, but he wouldn't. He could handle that.

Heiji nodded. " _Go on."_

" _No_."

Heiji peeked down at Kudo. " _There ain't no way you two kin beat him_."

" _Probably not, but if we run now he'll just kill you and follow us until he catches us or forces us to fight."_

Heiji swallowed, wondering if the guy could really do that. It seemed he wanted Kudo, so he wouldn't put it past him. If they all wound up like Kudo and Kuroba had been when they had found them though… who'd save anyone?

"Enough talking."

Heiji agreed, swinging and missing, putting a hand to his wound. He watched his heath go up. He had been hoping he wouldn't need to rely on this particular ability, but it helped. His wounds closed some, Kudo hitting the guy on the shoulder again, the blackness appearing with it for the barest moment, the leader was on him, his sword once more cutting in deep between his armor.

Hattori gritted his teeth, swinging his sword once more, once more getting it blocked. Hakuba and Kudo had better luck, drawing a bit more blood from the leader of the idiots this time.

The problem with the healing ability was he couldn't use it again. The man cut below his armor, making the world go all fuzzy. He wasn't sure if the guy was really intending to kill him like he said he was but he hoped badly that he'd wake back up when everything went black.

…

Saguru barely avoided it when the dagger came at him after Hattori passed out. His hand was shaking on his bow, no other weapon available to him since Kuroba had taken his sword. At close range, he was all but useless. He could pick up the other weapon, but it would lose him time and make him vulnerable.

"It's not hopeless." Conan was still there, still awake and with him. Saguru suddenly had flashbacks to the forest, when he'd lost the boy, when goblins could very well have had at him and there was nothing he could do about it. He had thought he'd gotten over that fear but it was still as real and strong as before.

"A dark elf this far from its home. You really will be special. I've never seen one of your kind before." The bandit king smirked, licking his lips. "Maybe it's a good thing they ran off. They brought me you."

Disadvantage or not, Saguru aimed his bow, the man easily swatting it away. He felt his fingers almost drop it, barely hanging on to the frail wood. Conan-kun hit man in the chest as he started laughing, making him stop and cough, taking a step to brace himself some. Once he was done he was looking at the boy, anger in his eyes. There was no way for Saguru to completely protect him – at least not physically.

"Oh, look, I think the great leader of this group of has-beens is about to get beat by a child."

That, it seemed, was more than good enough. Maybe it was too good. The man cut at him, making Saguru wish had had chosen some sort of sword fighting instead of a bow. He got him deeply in the arm and down his side and his leg, making him wobble where he stood. Maybe distracting him hadn't been the best idea but at least Conan wasn't hit.

Too close and bleeding, Saguru still tried. There wasn't much left to try for but Conan had been right. If they didn't stand their ground now, they'd simply get hit from behind. His fingers did slip this time when the bow was hit away, one hand still holding onto it.

Conan, again, thank whatever gods, got in another good hit, making the man cough up blood this time when it hit him in the chest again. The bandit king's eyes grew slightly more crazed as he eyed the boy.

All Saguru could do was laugh. "You really are going to get beat by a child."

Saguru knew he was hurt and bleeding and in absolutely no condition to stand up against a man who couldn't even seem to miss Hattori or Kuroba. The cuts hurt but he was far more worried about ending up in a situation like the other two than dying as he, like the others, passed out and left a child alone to face such a terrible danger.

…

Conan took in and let out a breath. He had been hoping that Hakuba would be able to stand up to him longer. The fact that he had gotten in as many attacks as he had already was great, but he knew with how weak he was without armor that it would be like ripping through tissue paper.

"That was aggravating. Now, will you listen to reason? I'd hate to have to cut you up again."

Conan clenched his fist, muttering his spell and waving a hand. _As if._

He hadn't intended to hit the man in his face but he watched as that was where his spell landed, the blackness of the curse eating away at the man's flesh. The bandit leader smirked before falling to the floor, breathing out once or twice before he stopped.

Conan let out a few deep ones of his own, blinking, and looking around. Was it over?

The others were all out of it, either dead or unconscious. He went over to Hattori to check, finding a pulse. Apparently the man hadn't been serious about killing him, which was a great weight off his shoulders.

He couldn't heal. Out of everything he could do, healing wasn't one of them. He did have that medicine skill now though and hoped it would help as he went to the bed, tearing up the sheet to make bandages for their wounds. If there were any other bandits in this place, he hoped they'd stay asleep for a while.

The battle had been much harder than he was anticipating with all of them. They could have died or been enslaved or many other things that Conan didn't even want to think about. If he hadn't attacked when he did, that many could and would have beaten him. One hit less… and he would have lost.

This game was fair but harsh. Conan didn't like that, didn't like any of this, but it seemed that this was the way that events were going to play out.

…

Kaito woke, feeling terrible. He groaned, putting a hand to his head and quickly looking around to figure out where he was.

The floor, apparently, was the answer to that. He sat up, wincing and holding a hand to his head. He saw Conan sitting on the bed, Hakuba laying down on it. "What happened? I'm guessing we won."

"Barely." Conan let out a breath. "Should it have been this hard?"

Kaito shook his head. "Not really, no. I'd count this as a pretty normal fight."

"So we're going to wind up like this every time?" The little guy waved a hand around the room. Kaito could see the bandit leader, very much dead, and Hattori sleeping close to him, his armor off and bandages mostly over his stomach.

"No, we were a bit unlucky and I didn't have one of my weapons, not that a dagger would have added much to that fight, but you never know." He closed his eyes a moment longer. "And I kind of screwed up."

Conan said nothing but Kaito could feel that he wanted to know what he was talking about. There were some guesses there, in those eyes, but Kaito was very sure they were all wrong. "And?"

"And I have no idea how to use my magic." Kaito had to chuckle. "I just multi-classed, remember? The light spell was fine but when I tried to do anything else, I was too slow. I think I'm going to need some practice, but hey, that's good news for you. You're going to get to throw rocks at me or something to help me get used to it. No fireballs though."

The little guy eyes lit up a bit and he saw a small smile there. "You're not good at something. That's a first."

Kaito shrugged, a smile on his own face as well. "First time for everything."

Conan let out a breath. "Can anyone carry Hattori? Hakuba-kun is… strangely light, lighter than you."

"Really?" Kaito raised an eyebrow. His classmate didn't look all that different from him, but he hadn't really looked him over that much. They did seem closer to the same height though. It was hard to tell with the hood. "I guess it's his race."

"I had to guess it was. So can anyone carry Hattori or do we have to wait until he wakes up too?"

Kaito wasn't sure about that. He knew he didn't have any strength but Hakuba might. "Maybe. Ask him when he wakes up." He tipped his head towards the unconscious form. "So, you beat the guy by yourself?"

"Hakuba-kun helped a lot. I was only able to cast because all of you were in front of me. Is that always what it's like for wizards?"

"Pretty much. They're always back of the party. If you had better armor you could probably take over for Hakuba-kun if, say, Hattori-kun and I are out of the equation, but I doubt that will ever happen. Without any dexterity, you're just a sitting target."

"I don't like it very much."

"Nothing you can do about it." Kaito stood up, wincing again and noticing his own bandages. "Medicine came in handy it seems."

Conan just nodded.

"Well, this is depressing." Kaito went over and sat next to him. "We just killed a bunch of fictional people who we think are fictional but we're not sure and they acted way too human and that guy you put to sleep will be waking up before Hattori-kun will, maybe, if we're unlucky, and you look like we were the ones that died."

"You think they're real people?" Conan blinked his eyes, some part of them, a part Kaito wasn't used to seeing, hinting at fear.

"I don't know, I really don't. I'm going to assume they're not, for my conscience's sake, but none of us can be sure of anything here. I'm not ever sure if we can get out by beating the game, with how different it is. We're not even at a high enough level to know _how_ to beat the game. Nothing is certain. You really don't like that, huh?"

"No." Conan blinked a few times but it looked like he came to some sort of decision himself. "Right now I think we should just keep doing what we've been doing. The point of this game has always been to beat the enemies so, even with us in it and an irregularity, I don't see why any of that would have changed. I'll deal with the fallout when I have to, _if_ I have to, and if we're wrong."

Kaito nodded, noticing Hakuba stir. "How long was I out anyway?"

"Two hours."

Kaito whistled. "Jeez. You must have been bored."

That got him a real smile and Kaito felt a little bit better. "Watching people sleep after having watched people sleep some more earlier isn't the most fun thing in the world."

Hakuba blinked and Kaito watched as he did the same thing that he had done – mainly check where he was, that he was alive, and then figure out what the heck just happened. Kaito noticed him meet Conan's eyes and keep them there for a while.

"So, you won. I suppose my teasing wasn't so much teasing as the truth then."

"Thank you for that." Conan tipped his head towards the other. "He was going to go after me, and you stopped him."

Hakuba smiled. "I figured it was better to protect the person doing more damage than to try and shoot him at close range again."

Conan nodded and faced him. Kaito was confused but he thought he kind of understood. He wasn't really sure who got knocked out when so without much knowledge of the fight, it was guesswork. He was sure that Hakuba protected Conan though, and that was kind of sweet of him. Women and children. Conan really needed to stop looking so… however he looked that made everyone want to jump in front of a bullet for him.

"Hakuba-niisan, can you carry Hattori-niisan?"

"Mmm. I don't know. Kuroba-kun?"

"What's your strength stat?"

Hakuba had to open the menu and find it. Kaito waited. "Twelve."

"You can probably carry Hattori-kun then, without his armor. I can take that. I'm going to go get my dagger first, or better yet just take his." Kaito got off the bed and retrieved the dagger. "We are in a bandit hideout though. We should help those people and pick up what money and items we can. I'd rather not go back broke and I really need to get some rest. This blood isn't a fashion statement."

"Can we please do that after?"

Kaito knew they were all hurt and moving- heck, doing anything, was going to make those wounds worse. He wasn't suspecting Conan to be the one that wanted the rest. He didn't even look hurt. "We might have to fight the remaining people here if we do that. I'd rather loot the place and get what I can than stumble around with no money."

"This room has been safe for two hours already. I can understand that you're worried but we didn't come across any other bandit members on the way here. There's room enough that I'm sure that more could be involved with this group but the leader is gone now and that other man against the wall seemed like his second in command. I have to figure if it was any large group, one of the two of them would have been out as well and not here."

"Guess work," Kaito spoke calmly to Conan. He knew he wasn't a kid and, new to this game or not, he wasn't thinking of it in a fictional sense. "Besides, who's to say there wasn't a third partner?"

Conan sighed. "I suppose you're right. We should get out of here then. We never did take down that campsite and, frankly, I need rest."

"As do we all." Kaito got up, going over and getting Hattori's armor, stained with his blood, which must have been hell for the little guy to get off the other teen when he was nothing but dead weight. "Hakuba-kun, it's still late so if you can stay up a while with me, Conan-kun, you and Hattori-kun can get some rest. I'll wake you a few hours after, if you don't mind watching us all sleep some more."

Conan shook his head. "I don't mind. Anything would be better than having to do something like this again."

Kaito felt bad about that sentiment, even if he shared it.

They had only just started this game. There would be a lot more fights, fights far worse than this one, and he doubted the game would be nice enough to keep humans out of the equation from now on.


	10. Bitten

**AN:** Aside from one really early fight which is considered 'hard', all challenges are based on level and challenge rating, so no fight that they will ever be up against... I believe, unless I do something on purpose... is an average - or near average - difficulty.

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Bitten**

Conan watched Hakuba-kun struggle for a good position to hold Hattori at. Able or not, that didn't take away pain, not when game concepts were made real. He knew they could stay conscious, but wasn't sure if that was better or not in the long run. Games, unlike reality, only took account of numbers, not mental whiplash and who knew what else, where the concepts warred with what he mentally thought should happen.

Of course, it was hard to think on this watching Kuroba twitch now and then, eying the door and scaring him as if someone were on the other side.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know." Kuroba stuffed his hands in his pockets, his clothes falling off of him. It made him look he was wearing a kimono or something, showing off the bandages as well as the scales that Conan could just barely see near his throat. He was still getting used to their appearances, forgetting that his own was different as well unless it was brought up. "It's really hard for me to sit still. I just want to go out there and grab whatever I can." The guy flashed him a grin. "It's the thief in me."

"Just go do it then. You're a lot more quiet then us and can see in the dark. I doubt, in or out of game, anyone is going to catch you."

Kuroba shifted from foot too foot, a whisper of pain in his movements, before he went to the door. "I'll meet you back a the campsite. I don't splitting whatever I can find here."

"I don't care about that. Just go."

And then he was gone. Conan looked over at Hakuba who was half carrying Hattori, half struggling to get him back into position.

"I suppose that means you'll have to carry his armor then, Conan-kun."

Conan didn't mind, looking around the room. He wished that the bandits had his old armor, or at least something near his size, but walking around in even the elf's wouldn't be pleasant. "It's fine. I'm not hurt and it's not that heavy. Let's go."

They both had to go slowly and quietly but Conan figured they could see better than most of the humans they ran into, so he didn't bother with stealth unless he could only see a short distance ahead of him.

It didn't take long to get out, Hakuba apparently not as hindered by Hattori's weight as he thought he would be. Once free of the confines of the cave, it was like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. Dark or not, as he couldn't tell much of a difference besides in what color his vision faded into, that place would be giving him enough bad dreams.

Conan let Hakuba lead them back, both to make sure he could look around and survey the area, and because Hakuba seemed to have some weird instinct when it came to the forest and could tell where they had been and not.

Laying Hattori down on a bedroll where he could rest, Conan stared at the dead fire. "I can get some wood and light that if you want."

"It's fine. It's not that cold out and I would rather it didn't mess up my vision. You can rest now, Conan-kun. I'll wake you in a few hours."

Conan looked Hakuba-kun over. Most of his wounds had been long and deep, his clothes in just as bad a shape as Kuroba's were in. If not for his armor, Conan had a feeling that Hattori's wouldn't be looking so nice either. "I need the rest but-"

"But Kuroba-kun and I need less, not to mention that fact that I will not be a good lookout once the sun rises."

Conan let out a breath and laid down on his own bedroll, feeling badly about this. He didn't need much sleep and Hattori would be waking up before he even got all of his. "I'll wait until he's up and Kuorba-niisan's back. You can't take on any danger on your own anyway."

"True enough." Hakuba went over and, instead of lying down with them, climbed up a tree and sat comfortably on one of the lower limbs. He didn't think he'd ever seen the detective so… comfortable. It was a strange situation as it was and whatever Hakuba had chosen as background or race or whatever defined his personality, was clearly at odds with his true one.

"It kind of makes it hard to talk to you when you're way up there."

"I can hear you just fine." Hakuba smiled down at him, almost blending in with the trees. Even with his one color of vision, it was hard to make him out in contrast to the foliage. It was probably what Hakuba was going for. "On a less positive note, that fight hardly went as I was expecting it to."

Conan shook his head, staring up at the leaves far above him, raising his hand to them and starting a small fire on his palm. "Kuroba-niisan and I were taken down so easily before. I had thought that with more of us, it would be harder to do. I don't want to think what would have happened had I missed him even once."

"I doubt it will always be this difficult. Hunting had improved greatly since Hattori-kun and I leveled. We'll simply have to try and do that before taking on a group of marauding kidnappers."

Conan nodded. That had been the plan before they were all separated and they had run into the bandits. It was still a good plan but… it wasn't a good story, which probably meant the game wouldn't give them much down time. Then again, he hadn't played many video games, so maybe this one allowed leveling outside of the story.

Kuroba came back a little after, scaring both him and Hakuba-kun. Conan swore to himself and sat up when the guy touched his shoulder, seeming to appear out of nowhere behind him. "Don't _do_ that."

Kuroba smirked and put his bag down. "But I need practice. What safer way is there to do it then this." He opened it, making Conan wonder where he had picked it up. It looked like something that feed was hauled in. There was a small bag that Kuroba dropped a black silk pouch his hand, not weighting as much as he thought it would when it jingled so much.

"What's this?"

"Money. You need new armor. That bag is magical too. Don't lose it and don't put anything sharp in it. Anything in your pack that's not sharp can go inside of it and it'll weight less." Kuroba went back into the larger bag, pulling out clothes and a robe. "Hakuba-kun, these are for you. They should fit. I found some I can wear too. They're bandit clothes but hey, you can't really tell."

Hakuba got out of the tree for that, going over and grabbing the rather plain, brown clothes. "Thank you."

"I took your other set anyway." Kuroba flung a black robe around himself, hiding most of the damage from his current set of clothing. "While armor does still seem overrated, it does help when losing clothes. Next time, maybe I'll go in naked."

Hakuba-kun coughed and Conan had to raise his eyebrows, a slight smile there. "Then they'll know right where to hit you to win."

Kuroba laughed in return. "I guess you're right. Either way, buying a needle and some thread the next time we're in town is probably a better investment." The thief yawned, going back inside the bag. "Besides that I found some food we probably don't need, but it will save you the trip in the morning, Hakuba-kun. I also found a second dagger for myself and picked one up for you."

Conan nearly missed catching the small dagger when it was thrown at him with so little warning. He glowered but the thief went back to his spoils.

"I picked up some money for myself but I figured to just split it with you, since you need to buy some supplies and so do I. Hakuba-kun, if you need anything, just ask."

"As of right now, I believe I am fine." Hakuba-kun went off and changes his clothes, apparently not liking them watching or the half naked look the two of them were sporting. After returning, he went and climbed back into the tree. "Conan-kun, you should get some rest now. You'll have to be watching by yourself in a little while. Are you okay with that?"

He had to be, didn't he? Hattori needed his rest and the other two were barely standing. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Mentally he needed the rest and hopefully he could get it now. It seemed the game worked in weird ways when it came to sleeping, allowing him to simply by wanting to. "Night."

"Goodnight," he received from Hakuba-kun, Kuroba-kun looking over a few coins and flipping one repeatedly in the air. Right, he would need to help him with magic casting in the morning. Conan couldn't understand why it was so hard. All he had to do was reach in his pouch now and then, wave his hands the way his body wanted him to move, and say the words. Sure it was _slightly_ harder than swinging a sword around but he hadn't expected someone like Kuroba to need help with magic.

At least that was something to look forward to. He'd find a few really big rocks for the training.

…

'Training' wasn't as fun as Conan thought it might be. All of Kuroba's spells that he needed training in, he had a set cast of two. There was an ice attack that he could use but it was easy to just make a flame target that the thief could practice on instead of hurtling it at him.

"That's one cool thing. The game gives us everything we need to cast." Kuroba, new to the pouch at his side, at least knew where to get the ammo for his spells now.

"You really haven't played a spell caster before, have you?" Conan raised an eyebrow. "That's kind of surprising."

Kuroba chuckled. "I prefer a more hands on approach. As you noticed, magic makes that hard. You're the first player I've known that doesn't care at all that they're not equipped for battle and just goes charging in. Doesn't work so well, does it?"

"As long as I can get some distance it's not so bad. I'm sure Hakuba-kun and I can snipe pretty far in the dark." Speaking of which. "Where did those two go?"

"Hunting, or so they said. It's a nice way to level up without dying, but I need a fighter with me. Up close and personal doesn't work too well with you." There was a cocked head and a grin to go with that statement. "Unless you want to try. We're better now and it's just hunting. If we get in trouble, we run. We should also go back at some point and get that deer Hakuba-kun grabbed for you – or ask him to get you another one. It _will_ help."

"Yeah." He hadn't even tried combat while riding. It didn't seem all that different to him and he knew how to ride a horse already. "Maybe when we're not hunting deer or whatever we run into though. I'd like to see what I can do."

Flexing his hand, Conan looked around. The sun was setting so he'd have advantage seeing, sure that any nocturnal animals they ran into would as well. Kuroba had used up all his good spells but since he was likely going to be relying on his blades, that didn't really seem important.

"Hey, you're just going to walk off like that?" Kuroba skipped over to him, catching up easily. "What if they go looking for us?"

"There's no blood and Hattori knows I'd put up a fight."

Kuroba sighed, falling in step beside him. "You know, I can see why he gets annoyed with you."

Conan frowned. "Huh?" The thief's eyes spoke of only understand that Conan couldn't quite grasp. "Who, Hattori?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged, letting the thief think what he would. "I'm sure he doesn't find me half as annoying as I find you. Why do I keep ending up with you anyway?"

"Fate? Destiny? The fact that Hakuba-kun and Hattori-kun can't stand each other and yet they work perfectly and we don't, so we should practice?"

That was point enough and Conan felt his shoulders slump a little. He should be practicing with Hakuba, the other long range fighter. How Hattori and the other detective worked so well together in this strange setting with all these strange rules when they not only didn't like each other much, but directly contrasted one another when it came to their abilities, only showed that both didn't want to be disadvantaged. They were able to function well, well enough to have rescued them and who knows how many other people that they had freed days ago. He could work with Kid. Maybe.

"Maybe we should be _sneaking_ up on these animals and not just scaring them all away while you wear a hole into the ground with that glare."

Conan threw an angry glance at Kuroba before, not admitting he was right, slowing down and trying to use the shadows and soft grass to mask his movement.

His own footsteps sounded so loud, leaving deeper marks than the thief's, even though he weighed less. Or at least, he _hoped_ he weighed less. He had been able to lift Hakuba-kun fairly easily.

Conan froze.

Echoing around the woods was a deep growling noise, somewhere behind him. He thought it might be a wolf, more than one since he was sure there was a slightly lower, off rumbling to go with the first, but there was something inherently _wrong_ about the noise that he couldn't explain.

Turning slowly, Conan searched the trees, Kuroba crouching beside him a second longer than he had to before ducking behind one of his own. Conan had to figure he had the right idea there and hide himself behind a neighboring tree, trying to find the source of the noise.

His muscles tensed when he saw something large and black making a bee-line for them, paws almost as silent as the wind brushing across the grass as it moved, teeth glinting in the remaining light of the sun.

It was a monster. That was all he could call it. While it looked like a dark wolf, it had a second head on the shoulders of one body, both dripping salvia as it growled and bit at the air.

Going straight for them.

It was fast, fast as lightning, drawing fangs towards skin faster than Kuroba could draw his dagger from his side. If not for the thief having taken a place slightly ahead of him, he wasn't sure the… mutation? wouldn't have set its teeth on him instead.

Kuroba was able to block the first one with the new thin rapier he carried, similar to Hattori's- but the second head dug teeth into the soft flesh of his arm, making the thief yelp as it pulled him, digging fangs in as deeply as it could. The dog's head tore away, leaving long, angry gashes down Kuroba's arm, blood flowing enough that Conan wondered if this game took into account anatomy and a major vein had been hit.

Kuroba ignored the injury though, dripping blood onto his clothes as he drew out his dagger, stabbing both his weapons at the dog creature and drawing its blood – something black and fowl smelling, from it in a cry of pain, the creature turning the whine into a snarl.

Conan took a step forward, knowing Kuroba couldn't do any major damage without a teammate, frozen in place for the third time when the thief yelled to him in a loud, commanding voice.

"Stay back!"

"But-"

"I said stay back!" Greenish gold eyes he was sure Kuroba didn't really have, as he had seen him up close before – though could never be sure if the guy simply wore contacts – turned towards him with something closer to anger than worry. It was enough to stop him, one hand reaching into the pouch at his side while he spoke the words before drawing out what he needed.

Fine, he wasn't going to just ignore this fight though. " _Magic Missile_." The three small bolts of energy went for the dog, striking it and leaving pinpricks of blood in their wake, staining the ground further with the sickening black goo.

Hurt and angry, one of the dog's heads missed Kuroba, the nimble thief not nimble enough as the other head of the beast dug into the thief's side, fangs gouging out lines through even the scales on his body. Standing on pure stubbornness, Kuroba struck at the dog again, hitting it but not getting as good of hits in now that he was either out of it or the dog was crazed enough that it was simply too hard to hit it.

"You have to kill it," Kuroba urged, spending a second to eye him. "Use that same spell. We'll worry about your magic later."

Conan had been going to use a spell that didn't take quite so much of out of him. Kuroba had been unconscious before, they all had been. He didn't think it was all that important that he killed the thing with one hit.

Then again, he'd never faced something that looked like this either, not since the goblins in any case – and those were at least sane enough to have a language. This dog seemed… reckless, murderous for the sake of simply being so. Conan drew back into his bag, waving his hand once more in the practiced gesture. " _Magic Missile_."

The dog fell with a whine, one of the heads closing its eyes while the other stared hungrily, even as death took it, at the both of them. It made Conan shiver as he went over to Kuroba, seeing the thief kneel down where he was, covering part of his wounds.

Kuroba was panting, his blood staining the grass. It wasn't the first Conan had seen one of them so badly hurt and he was getting used to it. There was something wrong with Kuroba's eyes though. They had just won and the thief looked… scared.

"What's wrong?"

Green, worried eyes turned to him as the thief gave him a weak smile. "A lot of bad news. We need to get back to that town, fast, and hope I can find someone to help. If not…"

Conan frowned, looking Kuroba up and down. He was bleeding but there didn't seem to be much else wrong with him. "What are you talking about?"

Kuroba swallowed slowly enough that Conan could see the bulge in his throat move slightly, standing, and started walking back the way they had come. "There are some concepts about this game I suppose level ones never encountered. That, right there, was one of the worst things you can run into when you're not near a healer or a town where you can find one. I'll explain when we get back. Walking and talking kind of hurt."

Conan kept quiet, trying not to draw the attention of anything else in the area. They hadn't gone far from their little campsite, and hopefully Hattori and Hakuba would be back soon. He didn't know what was going on but he had a bad feeling about this. Kuroba, unless he had to be, was never serious.

While they had time to kill, Conan went to his pack once they returned, wrapping up the bleeding injuries. It seemed to help some and Kuroba leaned against a nearby tree, his eyes closing now and then though they would open as if he were afraid to fall asleep. It was likely that small amount of adrenline that was keeping him awake.

Hakuba and Hattori returned with a few snow rabbits, the former placing the animals down after some small chatter on the better way to catch a rabbit ended. Both noticed Kuorba's new injuries and Hattori checked Conan over, not taking his word that he was alright.

"What happened to you?" Hakuba asked after Hattori had done his little look-over and they both settled around more comfortably.

"We ran into something I didn't think we'd see here. That's not really the issue. I almost wish the little guy had been the one to get bitten now. He would have had an easier time of it than me." Kuroba sighed. "How much besides basic attacks and basic magic spells do you know about this game?"

"Not much," Hakuba admitted. "Though I figured you knew that."

Kuroba nodded. "There are, obviously, slightly more in dept spells and such. Conan-kun here can put people to sleep, and that's not really an attack. There are charms as well, curses. I didn't get to see it but you have one of those too, don't you?"

Conan nodded. He had hexed the bandit leader with a curse when they had faught him. "I figured the game had stuff like that. That dog didn't look like it used magic though."

"No, not magic." Kuroba unwrapped his arm, letting the wet bandage hang off where it still remained half tied. "Something a bit more simple. What do you notice?"

Hakuba stayed where he was, shaking his head. "I just see puncture marks and gashes. You really should keep it wrapped. There may be some bleeding rule. Then again, if there was, I'm sure you'd be aware of it."

"There's not, not unless you lose a limb or something along those lines." Kuroba's eyes settled on him, Conan standing to see if he could get a better look at the injury. He had wrapped it, but he'd been mostly focused on simply covering it up than the opposite.

He put a hand to his nose when he was beside him. It was small but he could catch a faint odor, stale and bitter at the same time. "What is that?"

"Something akin to acid, I suppose." Kuroba wrapped it back up. "That creature carried a disease with it. I felt when it entered my blood with the first bite. That's why I didn't want you getting near it."

They were all quiet, no one really knowing what to say to that, as Kuroba setted himself against the tree again, his arm gingerly at his side.

"And can't ya jus' get Hakuba-kun here ta find ya some plants an' get rid of it?"

"Disease. I don't have a rash. Only a healer can do it and we're short that." Kuroba looked up. "Worse case scenario, I'll be dead in two days. Best case scenario, I can last maybe a week."

They were all silent for a while, trying to take that in. Hakuba was the first to his feet, suprising all of them.

"Isn't there something we can do it to slow it? I know my medical history on the plants here is wanting, but I'm sure I can find something that will at least slow it down-"

"Without any of that medical knowledge you need? Not likely. These plants are different than our own. I'm sure you noticed." Kuroba smiled, something happy warring with the fear still in his eyes. "I'm sure there's a healer in town. The only problem is town isn't down the street and we don't know how much of it was damaged by whatever had attacked it when we were separated, or if a healer would have stayed somewhere like that, where they could get attacked."

"Damn it! Why'd ya guys go off on yer own?!"

"It wouldn't have mattered. All those things like to do is attack people. It was near here. It was better we fought it standing and ready than letting it get the jump on us." There was a light laugh following his words. "I'd for sure be dead then."

Conan was thinking. He doubted that the medicine skill he picked up would help with this, though he didn't see why it wouldn't. Maybe there were just different levels of what he was capable of. Right now, there was one thing he could do. "We leave now," he spoke quietly. "Deer. Hakuba-niisan, can you find some for all of us? They're faster than us and we won't get tired then, not to mention Kuroba-niisan won't have to worry about traveling and being hurt. We'd only need two." Hakuba was light and he knew he didn't weigh much.

Hakuba let out a breath. "I already- Yes, I can find some. It just might take me some time. Give me an hour and come with me." Hakuba tipped his head, white hair the only color that set him apart for the crimson night around him. "I have animal handling as well but it's easier if we're both there. Hattori-kun, watch Kuroba-kun."

Hattori nodded, eyeing Conan. He had to roll his eyes. "I'll be fine."

"Yer lucky that thing didn't bite ya too. Where there's one, 'ere's more than one."

"I'll be fine."

Hattori let out a breath. "Ya better be."


	11. Red and White

**IMPROTANT A/N:** Okay, I can't take this anymore. It's hard to handle three different character sheets at once and I noticed three issues that came up that are pretty big but there's no way I can change more than one of them.

 **First** , Kaito was supposed to pick a white dragon, not a blue. I have no idea what got into me. I can fix that one (and have. Doesn't change anything).

 **Second,** I gave Conan a spell way back when that he wasn't supposed to have until next chapter, that came with his race. I can't do anything about that as it was part of a battle. I can try and work around it at some point, as a 'produce flame' would have had the same result, so I'll try and fix that.

The **third** is Saguru wasn't supposed Primal Awareness until this chapter/next, which is where he can sense the animals. I'm sorry about that. I had planned on having them level three characters when I started this story and, since I started them at level one, that one slipped right passed me.

Sorry *bows*

 **Chapter 11: Red and White**

Kuroba couldn't very well sleep and stay on the deer at the same time. Saguru fashioned ropes they would work like reigns, for both deer, he had come across. They were female and old enough to carry them and that was good enough for him. He would have liked something bigger, stronger, faster- but these would have to do.

Kuroba-kun was leaning back against him while he held the rope and tired to steer the animal in the general direction he wanted her to go. Hattori-kun couldn't see well enough at night, and the animal to be trusted to stay the course, so they'd had to pair up this way – Conan-kun just behind him and controlling the second animal.

His classmate winced every time the deer had to jump over an outcropping or fallen tree, pushing harder against him. Saguru wished he could have allowed him some sleep to heal up the wounds but they were being pressed for time and it seemed, whether it was called sleep or not, Kuroba-kun couldn't rest while in pain and riding.

That didn't mean he wasn't as good as dead weight against him.

"Kuroba-kun, since we have some time, do you mind explaining to me more about how this disease works?"

" _Mmm_." Kuroba reached up, touching invisible keys as he spoke under his breath, Saguru hearing it catch when the deer swerved to avoid a clump of trees. " _It's going to eat away at my skin for a while, the damage that's going to be done depending on luck I suppose. I have at least a day if I get bad luck. Day-"_ Kuroba was startle out of his sentence again with a small cry, forcing Saguru to hold tight to the rope and slow the deer down as his classmate threw him off balance. " _Days meaning twenty-four hours, not sunrise and sunset kind of stuff,_ " Kuroba finished, clenching his teeth. Even with the darkness and Kuroba having a natural blue tinge to his skin now, he looked pale. " _That, or my body, with that luck, fights it off on its own by tomorrow."_

"You should have run."

Kuroba shook his head. " _Thing's too fast to outrun. Besides, it would have caught the little guy before it caught me."_

Saguru had nothing to say to that and hoped that Kuroba's pain tolerance could hold out until they were somewhere safer. While he normally wouldn't have wanted to agree with Hattori-kun, one creature usually meant more.

The deer slowed long before Saguru wanted, the creature sweating on top of its coat, shifting while the second slowed to a stop as well. Letting out a breath, Saguru dismounted, making sure to help Kuroba down as well. "So, are we walking the rest of the way or waiting until morning, after we rest?"

No one spoke up and Saguru realized that, even though he hadn't admitted to it, he'd somehow taken lead when it came to hunting and, when they were together in a group, he had looked to Kuroba-kun to lead them.

"I need rest." Kuroba held his side, still leaning heavily against him. "Please."

It wasn't as if Saguru could say no to that. He took his pack off, Kuroba's hanging off his older shoulder. He made sure his classmate was standing on his own as he took out the bedrolls, Kuroba-kun sliding into one of them with a mutter of thanks and passing out.

Saguru let out a deep breath, looking towards the other two who were still standing and had made no move to settle in for the night. They were all new to this, far newer than they wished they were, and he didn't feel right leading them himself. There was so much he didn't know.

But Conan-kun was a child, had already gotten himself and Kuroba-kun into danger if what he was told was even half true. Hattori-kun couldn't see well in the dark, would made a bad lookout right now, and would be next to useless in a fight if one sprang up.

"Hattori-kun, get some sleep. Conan-kun, you take the first watch while you're not tired. I'll take the second and wake you before dawn, okay Hattori-kun?"

"Sure." The dark skinned teen, looking so much like himself still that it bothered Saguru – maybe made him jealous – didn't bother getting out his bedroll or taking off his armor. He simply laid down on the grass and fell asleep.

"You too," Conan-kun urged, looking towards him. "I'm a fairly good judge of time. We'll each take four hours."

Saguru knew he'd wake up anyway, because he wanted to wake and this body knew just how much sleep he needed to function. Knowing they wasted time while he was hunting and them more so eating, since they needed the meal, he hoped he hadn't cost Kuroba-kun more time than he could afford to lose. "We should reach the town by tomorrow. We aren't that far. You and Kuroba-kun only traveled a day, though you were in a wagon for some time. I'm hoping the deer will make up for the same amount of ground covered."

"We'll have plenty of time. From what we were told, this is the only main town in the area. The other one was the one we never made it to, and don't have an exact location of. If there's no one there to help, we're not going to find someone in time anyway. There's no need to rush."

Saguru blinked, watching the child in the darkness. While the other apparently saw the night around them, everything was painted as clearly as a picture to him. It wasn't faded or dulled or anything, while sunlight had almost the opposite effect. The boy's red hair was unruly, far more so than it usually was, likely from the ride. He spoke with such a certainty of the facts, empty of the emotion he knew would have choked his own words, and he had to wonder what Conan-kun had been through to make him so jaded.

The words were the truth though. They'd make it long before Kuroba's two day limit, and if there was no one in town to help him, there was no way they could make it to the other in the time they had left. At least, not without a lot of luck.

Calming from the initial scare, Saguru relaxed as well. If Kuroba was ever playing a game, he knew his classmate would be the last to lose. This was no different. "So, we help him, then finally get back on the road to the other town. Considering I had expected some quest-giver or the like where we're heading back to and found none, as I would have expected from such a game, wandering around aimlessly does seem to be the best course of action."

Conan smiled. "The best thing is to do nothing at all then."

"I suppose you can say that. None of us have passed this area before, either, both because we were being held captive at the time. Do you think you'll be alright if I take a look around? It shouldn't long. I don't very much like not knowing where we are."

He had expected a smile and a yes, as that was what he normally received from the boy. Instead, Conan tapped his fingers against his leg and looked towards the other two.

"I had wanted to try and fight some enemies, both to get used to this game and to not be so weak. I haven't had the chance to do much. The both of you are likely why we already leveled." Conan spoke quietly under his breath, touching the air in front of him as he reread the invisible words. "We're not that far from leveling, though I haven't been able to get a good look at what experience basic animals get. If you're awake and unhurt too, I'd rather go hunt down some forest creatures. It feels wrong to just kill them for the sake of killing them, but at this point I'd rather not run into another monster… and we're still far too low on the food chain."

Saguru had to think on that. He was a good hunter and knew he'd be even better so late at night, but there was a catch there. "I've had Hattori-kun with me so I haven't had to worry about getting hit myself. He is still slightly injured from earlier. There's nothing I can do at close range, or at least not much, and there is no way I'd want you to take the forefront in a fight, so the odds of us losing are rather high."

"We'll never get stronger if we're afraid of the danger."

"There's running into danger prepared and running blindly. I'm starting to see why you and Kuroba-kun keep winding up in such messes." Saguru didn't want to kill Conan-kun's eagerness, especially when any other child likely wouldn't be fairing as well, but he didn't want to be the reason that the fell either.

"If it's too dangerous, we run. You said that before and I don't mind that."

"And if we can't run?" Saguru tipped his head. "Kuroba-kun stated to me earlier that it hadn't been an option just a few hours ago. It may not be an option in the future either."

Conan tapped his hands on his leg some more, looking into the forest now. Saguru checked just to be sure the boy wasn't seeing something that he missed.

"I should be able to go alone. I can see just fine and I shouldn't have issues hiding."

Saguru let out a breath, holding out his hand. "Give me your dagger. If I'm going to go with you and attempt at all to defend myself, I'm not going to be fighting at point blank range with a bow."

Conan stood up and tipped his head, going into his robe. "You have a sword still, don't you?"

"Kuroba-kun is able to use both so I don't see why I can not." Saguru, now that he was slightly different, had thought it imperative to look over his character stats as well as his abilities and attacks. Most were memorized though he still had issues with a few of the game statistics. For one, he could use a shield. He eyed Hattori-kun's for a moment before accepting the dagger instead. If something happened while they were gone and they couldn't get back in time, he didn't want to rely on a wounded rogue and an unshielded fighter to take care of themselves.

"Please, Conan-kun, listen to me then if I tell you to do something. I'll listen to you as well, unquestioningly. Neither of us are very good at this game, though I have a feeling we know things that the other doesn't know as well. For one, I can find us something to fight that won't kill us, but I won't be able to do this again. If it weren't into the next day I likely couldn't even do it now." Saguru took in and let out a breath, reaching out his hand in front of him. "And please, I'll speak but don't speak to me while I'm doing this. I only have a minute and it's a lot of information to sift through."

He couldn't tell what the boy's response was but, considering it wasn't vocal, he took it as acknowledgment. Focusing on the area around them, Saguru let whatever strange magic he had in the forest echo in his mind, much like he assumed echolocation worked. There were pings here and there, lots of them, and he frowned in concentration.

"There's a small hill like area around here. I can sense the bats that likely roost there all spread out in the forest. I'm going to assume they're too weak individually to make much difference but I'll check into that after. There's a small grove up ahead with a pond, to the Northeast. Near it is a large tree on the northern side where a family of chipmunks is sleeping. There's a heard of deer that's on the move I won't be able to track off to the east as well. A few wandering foxes are in the area and we'll only run into them by luck. There's a bear… I believe it's a brown bear judging by its size, over to the west that I can barely feel. That's much too far to walk or run so we'll leave him be. Six miles." Saguru added the distance since he wasn't sure if Conan-kun knew how far he could sense. Saguru frowned. "And something closer, two or three miles, that I think is a leopard. It's hard to tell but…" he gave it a few moments, focusing on that creature to get it's size, shape, the feel of how it's footsteps hit the soft ground without a sound… "Yes, it's a leopard."

Saguru opened his eyes, feeling slightly light-headed now that he was relying on sight again. "Do you think we can take on a leopard? I'd risk a bear with Hattori-kun, but I'm unsure about a mountain cat. They'll be fast, though likely not stronger."

"It should be fine. Animals are the basics to any starting game, aren't they?"

Saguru had to assume so, though he couldn't be sure. The cat was up in a tree, where it seemed to be sleeping, so he had little fear that it would make it down to attack them before they killed it. "In any case, it can be breakfast. I've never had leopard before."

Conan chuckled quietly, waiting for him to lead the way.

…

It wasn't a far walk before they were both standing behind a tree, watching the sleeping leopard not far from them. Neither of them needed to get close but If they didn't attack quickly, the animal would likely fall out of the tree very much alive and run for it. Drawing his bow and watching Conan raise his hand and meet his eyes, Saguru let loose, the boy quickly made a gesture with his hand.

The arrow hit first, striking the animal in the skull and leaving Saguru with little doubt that it had lived. Conan cut off whatever word he was speaking and let the energy in his hand disappear, the white light it gave off almost blinding.

"Well, that was easy."

"It tends to be when you attack a sleeping creature. It saw nothing which helped as well." Saguru put the bow over his back. "Is this the first fight you've won so easily?"

"Ah, yeah, actually."

Saguru chuckled a little. Maybe he and Hattori-kun were simply better at planning. There were enough forest creatures that fell before him that he couldn't say this was anything new. It was the first time he had taken out a larger animal with one shot though.

"What do we do now? That wasn't enough." Conan put his hands to his side. "Want to go look for those bats?"

"I'm sure they are wandering about at this time. Bats are nocturnal creatures and do not roost during the night."

"I know, but you sensed them and they'd be around the cave, right?"

They likely wouldn't be far and Saguru hadn't sensed anything dangerous that direction. He shrugged, looking down at the red-headed boy. "Sure, why not? Neither of us are going to be getting any sleep then."

"We have time before we're forced to rest and we can do that in town. I'm sure wasting four hours of time while Kuroba-niisan likely will need to get more health back won't be terrible."

That was a good point and he wasn't very tired right now. "Okay, come on. Be quiet though. You never know what could have moved into this area."

Conan nodded, following, their footsteps nothing louder than the grass bending. He went towards the cave, wondering how they would attack a flying bat and figured the game made it easy enough. There wasn't any way such a small creature would be able to dodge around them and pose that much of an issue.

Saguru blinked at the first bat they came to, turning around and walking back a bit before staring wide-eyed as Conan followed close behind him.

" _Since_ when _are bats taller than me_?" Saguru asked quietly, looking around the tree once more and wondering if the creature could hear him. That was one _big_ bat.

" _Well, it is a game. Maybe that's how big bats are."_

Saguru took in and let out a breath. That thing was bigger than the _leopard_ had been. That being said, he wasn't sure how to take it on. " _Is there a way to tell if we can beat it? I can't even guess at it's strength."_

Conan nodded. " _I think so. I was trying to ask Kuroba-niisan about skills before. I'm pretty sure this has to do with nature and the woods and we can get a good guess on it. Lets see…"_

Saguru watched, Conan's eyes flashing green for a moment before the boy sighed, smiling to him. " _It's weaker than it looks. Once we hit it I'm sure it won't be up to much fighting. It's those teeth you have to worry about but, between us, one bat should be easy_."

He wasn't sure how much he trusted those words. Conan-kun had lead them into enough danger.

" _That and, if something goes wrong, I can distract it really well with a simple spell. That make you feel better? It will give us time to get out of here."_

Actually, that did make him feel a little better. " _And if you miss?"_

" _I can't miss. It's an automatic cast once I do._ "

That finished off any of the tension and Saguru drew out his bow, turning around and nocking an arrow, blinking a few times when he noticed the bat was gone. " _Hey, did you see where it went?"_

Conan looked around as well, mostly up, and he caught him shake his head. Saguru wasn't sure he wanted to waste the last spell he had on finding the bat when it would last only a minute and distract him enough it could easily take a bite out of him while his concentration was elsewhere.

There was a movement in the tree and Saguru looked up in time to see the large bat coming down out of them, the trees hiding all but it's immediate decent. He was not going to admit he yelped but he did shift his bow to face the oncoming threat.

Said threat going towards Conan-kun that didn't even see the thing coming at him over his shoulder.

The little guy missed those sharp, fang like teeth as the he moved out of its way on pure instinct, the bat flapping its wings as Conan-kun side-stepped to spin and face it, a noise that hurt his ears coming from the mutant of a creature

He was completely unaware when another bat came from the other side of the forest, Conan side-stepping from this one as well. Saguru realized he wasn't sure that the creatures had seen him and equally unsure that, if they had, they weren't just going for the smaller, easier to reach creature. He had little time to think about it as he shot an arrow at the first bat, hitting it in its furry chest and watching the wound bleed out around the wooden shaft. He likely got a lung with that.

One bat swept at him and he noticed a blur of wings as the other went for the boy again.

It had been some time since he was in the front lines like this, aside from the bandit lair. That wasn't a fight, it was a death wish. He would forever remember how much the large fangs of the predator felt going into his back and chest, the creature ready to take off with him if it could, though his apparent 'scream' was enough to get it to let go and back off once more.

Going for another arrow and drawing it against the sting was incredibly painful and he briefly looked over to see Conan-kun was just fine before firing off a second shot at the creature he'd hurt, watching it as it hit between its wing and body, causing the creature to fall the small distance to the ground and let out that screech again.

There were no hand moment, no spoken words. Conan just looked at the bat before him and then the one Saguru thought was still too close for comfort. There was a light glow, almost pink if he was making the color out right, and, just for a moment, it kind of looked like Conan-kun had a pair of faint, butterfly-like wings and… glittered.

The bat in front of the boy seemed to slow it's flapping, falling a bit to the ground, its mouth closing.

" _Fly away_ ," Conan spoke in an odd tone. "Fly as far and as fast as you can."

And then the bat listened to him, like an obedient pet. It took off back into the forest further than Saguru could see.

Of course, the remaining bat, hurt and angry, didn't care that it was going to die or that it had just lost it's attack companion, and came at him again, having issues flying, missed him, and fell to the floor where Saguru quickly put an arrow into its back, watching the creature stop breathing.

Sighing, he put a hand to his wound. "Well, that was harder than I had thought it was going to be. I recall someone saying it would be easy."

"I didn't know there were two bats. Besides, that was easy." Conan went over to the dead bat, checking it over. "I think the leopard is easier to carry but a bat might taste better. I doubt they have as much muscle."

"You carry it then." Normally Saguru wouldn't suggest the child do it, but he knew he could not personally carry much and, currently, he was wounded.

Conan didn't seem fazed, grabbing one of his wings and putting it over him like a cloak. He could swear there was still some pink in the boy's eyes.

"Can I ask you what you just did while we walk back?"

"Oh, the charm?" Conan tipped his head, looking far too adorable, even for the child he was. "It's a fairy thing. It's new. I kind of am part fairy."

Saguru snorted, having not meant to and put his hand up to his mouth. "Sorry about that."

"It was that or become part demon. I like the charm better then the telepathy though." Conan grinned, some evil malice there that Saguru wasn't used to seeing. "Though apparently being a warlock means I'm not one of the good guys. I suppose I'm a contradiction."

"I'm pretty sure between you and Kuroba-kun we should not have issues speaking with the good or the evil then. We have a thief dragon and now a… fairy wizard?"

"Fairy wizard warlock genasi," Conan corrected him. "Apparently those four things mean something in this world. I guess Genasi were new to this game or something. Its apparently not a very common race. I'm sure a lot of people play it in the game though."

Saguru nodded. He did remember that bandit leader saying something about his own race as well. Unlike Conan-kun and Kuroba-kun, his and Hattori's characters were rather simple. "While I believe I would benefit from scales, as Kuroba-kun has, I think I'll focus on my own abilities for now. Changing them around seem dangerous, and not to be mean, but you two have fairly bad track records when it comes to battles won."

"Look who's the one bleeding."

Saguru had nothing to say to that so he faced forward, not wanting to laugh at the small boy carrying the much larger bat in any case. It wasn't funny, it was simply so absurd he found the want to do so.

They arrived back to find the other two still sound asleep. Saguru turned to the bat, knowing he'd have to cook the meat now before I started to decay. A few hours in the night wouldn't hurt it but was going to attack unwanted attention. If he just took what he wanted off of it now, he could have Conan-kun dump it further in the forest for the other animals to eat.

Taking out the dagger he was much happier to have, he simply went at it like he would a turkey. "This should be disgusting me more than it is."

"It's weird. When you are constantly expecting something five times worse to come out at you any second, it kind of makes it easy."

That it did. It was a hard thing to always be on guard though, and wary of the new surroundings. This game was meant to be a fighting _and_ interaction game, and they had been doing little interacting this far in the forest. He almost wished they'd run into that druid again.

Carving up some of the meat and finding it a dark color, he took a portion to save for later as well, instructing Conan-kun to leave the carcass far from the campsite. Before he left, the boy threw some fire onto the a few sticks of dried wood Saguru gathered along the way. It was very helpful. He had learned to make fire on his own, but it was time consuming. It would take him a while to cook the animal but Kuroba-kun could also take up watch while the rest of them slept, hurt still or not.

Speaking of which, he looked over at Kuroba. He was still in the same position he had fallen into. There was a constant, steady breathing that eased up the worry. He was sure his arm wasn't a pretty sight but Kuroba had said it was possible to fight this illness on his own as well.

Conan came back, sitting down and yawning as he rubbed one of his eyes. "We still didn't make enough to level. One more fight."

Saguru sighed, watching the meat spit at him from the fire. "I suppose, as it will help. If we manage to level ourselves, we might be able to make this disease take longer as well."

"That, and we're still too weak. You're hurt pretty bad."

Saguru would admit to that. He put his hand back to the puncture wounds he still had from those teeth. He'd heal once he slept, which wouldn't be long from now, but they made using the bow painful. "I'll live."

The boy shrugged. "There's nothing to look for on purpose so we'll be wandering after you get that cooked."

"Which I'll be doing now in case I pass out." Saguru eyed him a moment, seeing Conan-kun was eager to get on with this. The boy hadn't been hurt but he wasn't sure if he had all his spells from his earlier encounter with that disease-ridden dog. "Don't get too eager and over-shoot our luck."

"I won't. You're still mostly fine and I didn't get hurt. Tell me when you're ready." The boy walked off, never going far enough to be out of his sight as he wandered around their little area.

The meat cooked and stowed away where, hopefully, no creatures could smell it over the carcass, he stood and went with Conan-kun to wander the forest for something other than a giant bat this time.

Saguru found himself wishing for that giant bat less than half an hour later when they came across a man, clearly with his throat slit, and his blood fresh.

Rubbing his fingers together to test the consistency, Saguru looked around the area. "It was a knife wound so either another person did this or there's something with a very sharp claw around here."

"Couldn't have been more than an hour, but I'm not sure how far this game takes accuracy." Conan-kun moved the man's fingers. "If it's anything like normal, it was within the last half an hour."

"I can't sense people or anything like people when I scan an area, so they could have been here, alive, longer than that." Saguru stood. He was not going to be caught unaware by this man's murderer – human or not. "I doubt a monster would have left him for dead. He has no money on him, so I gather he was robbed. Goblins or anything with humanistic traits could have done this, but they never would have been tall enough to slit his throat."

"Maybe it was a stray group of bandits from the mountain."

That was highly likely. It was a compound and, at times, a home, but it was not an inn. He was sure the bandit gang had to be larger with as big as that place was. "Which means they could be somewhere around here and we are still very close to where we left the others." It had not rained in some time but Saguru was sure he could pick up some clues as to what happened here, being that they actually stayed here. "We should go back and ignore this."

Conan sighed. "I really don't want to."

"I know but I don't want the other two dying and having them weaponless when we return will be just as bad if they are simply robbed." Saguru didn't know what to do. He wanted to go back, protect them, but if they followed this attacker they might be able to both get what they needed from him and end any future violence.

"You're a lot better at tracking so if you say we go back, I'm going to have to wander around and probably get nothing done until you get back and then want to leave, likely leaving some of us behind. Help me now and that won't happen. If we find tracks and they lead towards the camp, we'll go back. Is that okay?"

It seemed logical and Saguru had no choice but to stand up and nod, looking around the body. He spoke as he did. "It was a level ago that you and Kuroba-kun faced a group of bandits, was it not? How many were you unable to take on?"

"Four."

They could probably take on four now but he wasn't sure if he wanted to risk that with only two people.

"Then if it's less then four, we do something about it. If it's not, we let things be." Saguru brushed his hand over a light shifting of dirt. "It was a human here, but it looks like only two, if I'm reading these right. There can be more elsewhere, like we have a camp, so we can't assume that's all until we get there."

Conan nodded and Saguru took his time, finding and losing and finding the trail that the attacker had gone. It was hard to tell except for the random broken branch, pushed aside branch, or other small signs.

As he had expected, they came to an area with light. Partially closing his eyes, Saguru moved from tree to tree before he could see two figure, clearly drunk and laughing over a camp fire. He wasn't sure what was in the pot they had over the flame but he could smell that it was burning, neither man there enough to care.

Saguru drew out an arrow but found it falling to his side. He knew they couldn't see either of them, being human. Sight was something he had learned well enough, considering he had to baby sit Hattori-kun more than a little once the sun went down. " _I don't know if I can purposely kill humans, not just so I can level."_

Conan shook his head, going past him. " _Beating them is all we need. We don't need to kill them. Just aim for pain and not death."_ The boy didn't bother with anything else, going forward as quietly as he could, making Saguru frown and wonder what he was up to.

The bandits didn't seem to notice much but Conan-kun had the bad luck of not looking where his feet were going and snapped a rather loud branch under his feet, making both men jump to their feet unsteadily and look around.

"Who's there!?"

"I am!" Conan said eagerly, waving one hand. Saguru drew the arrow now, aiming at the bandits. They'd have to come closer to hurt the boy and he'd hit at least one of them before that happened if he had to.

"I am?" Both men went for their swords, drawing them out but seeming very unsure about what they were supposed to do with them. "Who's 'I am"?"

"Me!" Conan spoke just as cheerfully back. "The boss sent me. He said you guys might need some help."

"Pft. The boss knows we don't need any assistance. We're the best team there is." One man lowered his sword to grin at his partner, hitting the back of their fists to one another. "No one can beat us." He seemed angry when he turned back. "Now come out of those shadows!"

"I'm right here."

Saguru's grip tightened on the arrow significantly when Conan-kun moved not twenty feet from them, into the frail light of the fire. Another step back and he'd be hard to see but he'd given up that advantage for some reason. "The boss isn't going to be happy that you didn't listen to him and look, I brought something special just for you."

The boy had his fist closed and his hand outstretched. Saguru couldn't see what he was holding well from the angle he was at and he had no clue what Conan-kun was up to.

"Hm? What is it?" The man doing all the talking took a step forward and he barely caught Conan-kun speaking something so low he had trouble hearing it, something small falling to the floor slowly from in front of the boy.

Both men simply fell to the floor, no blood or anything in their wake.

Conan-kun turned around with a smile and a tip of his head. Saguru frowned, watching the green start to flash around his vision.

"How…?" Saguru asked, going over to Conan-kun and seeing the other two passed out. "How did you do that?"

"Just a sleep spell. Normally that wouldn't be enough but bandits are weak on their own. It was the leader that was so hard to beat." Conan stretched, yawning. "But anyway, lets level in the morning. I don't want to have questions and no one to answer them."

Saguru nodded, agreeing to that, but still surprised at what the boy had managed to do. He had defeated both men and without so much as lifting more than his hand. "That was still pretty amazing. I'd say we should take them back to town but it is hard enough getting all of us to fit on the deer. I do not want to tax them too much. Leaving them with no repercussions though seems wrong. Are you opposed to stealing from a thief?" Saguru lifted part of his bloody clothes. "I'm in the market for a new shirt."


	12. Familiars

**Chapter 12: Familiars**

Conan wanted to get to bed after they returned but he waited for Hakuba-kun to finish the meal so he wasn't alone, then even longer while they waited for Kid to wake up. Odds were the thief would be able to handle himself or wake them if anything happened, still injured, and who knew, this problem might solve itself.

The guy looked a lot better when he woke and was surprised to find himself able to level. Hakuba-kun went to sleep soon after the other awoke and Conan found himself in the same position he'd been in last time.

"Want to help me level?"

"Only if you take my advice this time." Kuroba grinned, leaning against a tree and playing around with his dagger. "Let me check the book for you so I can tell you what would be best. You're still really squishy for this game."

Conan waited while Kuroba went over the 'book' as he called it, that read like one inside the menu with all the instructions, mumbling about how he should have just gone with what he said to begin with. "You're a level two wizard and a level one warlock, right?"

Conan shook his head. "No, I only have a level in each, remember?"

Kuroba sighed. "No. I forgot you and I were behind the others in our main class. Well then… lets see. What did you pick for your warlock pact again?"

"Faerie."

"Right… well, that's going to do you almost no good. Let's see…" There was more silence. "I need your spell list."

Conan went to it and started naming them off, realizing he and Kid shared a similar protection spell and ignoring that fact.

"Necromancy, evocation, evocation, enchantment, evocation, conjuration, and then some illusion stuff… hm. Honestly I'd go with wizard and school of Abjuration and get some abjuration spells. You get hit so much it would help. Evocation will help later though and you can always go with the necromancy one so that you can have other things take all the damage for you. Leveling up your faerie-ness won't really help in the long run."

"Let me look at those then." Conan opened the menu, not really liking the necromancy and favoring the protection that that abjuration would give. The issue with that was his lack of spells in that category, all of them some type of healing spell that he didn't have and doubted he'd use. "Necromancy then?"

"It won't help right this second but give it a few levels." Kuroba saluted him. "Pick a good spell too."

Conan went through his spells first, because that was easier, and smiled at the one he found, clicking it and adding it to his little book. Copying it down, he went to see what he got with the school of necromancy. He didn't like it and clicked on the school of enchantment instead, which Kid hadn't even recommended. He'd give him props for knowing the game better, but there were ways he just wasn't willing to play. "I didn't listen." He only said it because Kuroba might need to know.

"I figured." The other sighed. "So?"

"Enchantment."

Kuroba snorted. "That doesn't help your attack or your defense. Hope you're ready for getting targeted."

"I'll be fine." Conan looked over his second charm spell now. It had worked just fine earlier and now he had a backup in case he needed it. "You should level too, just in case."

"I'm going to." Kid opened his own menu, clicking away instead of vocally commanding it like he had earlier. Conan had to wonder if he was hiding what he was doing or if it was just faster to click the buttons. He didn't really like looking like he was talking to himself, which was the reason he went for the menu.

Kuroba was done in next to no time, obviously not having needed to choose anything too complicated. Conan watched him, nothing better to do. He was sick of playing cards in their spare time and wondered if there was something else they could possibly be doing while the others slept. He kind of liked hunting, though Hakuba had a point in that it left the others vulnerable while they were unconscious.

Hakuba woke before Hattori and he and Kuroba started talking quietly. Conan took that time to take a nap himself. He would keep them back another hour or two but they still needed to eat and he could have something on the road of he really wanted it.

….

Kaito sighed. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to do things their own way. He wasn't sure if Hakuba-kun was picking the best option for leveling but nothing seemed to be able to change his mind. "Okay, but don't blame me if he dies."

"I won't."

Kaito watched as Hakuba-kun lifted his arm and a hawk that looked a lot like his one back home flew down from the trees, having somehow found his way to him in the dark. Hakuba-kun sat down, petting his feathers and Kaito had to sigh again.

"You know how incredibly unhelpful a beast master is? And even if it weren't you picked a _hawk_. They're like, worse than the squishy wizard here, who will be doing a lot more damage than that thing," Kaito spoke, pointing to the unconscious little detective.

"It may come in handy and in any case I will still have my bow and it is unlikely I'm going to be using Lestrade for battle. He is simply a partner."

Kaito rolled his eyes. As if 'Watson' weren't bad enough. "A larger animal would have been better still."

Hakuba-kun shrugged. "I can always change it if need be. For now, he is part of the group."

Kaito could only give so much advice and no one was taking it. If they all died he was hardly going to be the one to blame. Hattori-kun woke up ages later, Kaito completely bored with watching Hakuba-kun and his new pal.

"Ah, you feelin' better?" It was still somewhat dark, the sun barely up, and Hattori rubbed his eyes.

"For now. Won't know how bad it is until I hit the twenty-four hour mark. Looks like they bought me a few more days though, so everything's going to be fine. We can level. Do you need help?"

"Mmm, dunno. Let me see." Hattori went into his level up choices and looked depressed. "Why's there gotta be so many weird things? It's all 'bout dice."

Kaito brought up the menu himself. "I guess that's how the fighter class works. I can't help you out with this after all. It's up to you how you want to fight. None of them really sound worse than the other. Just pick."

Hattori nodded, reading over what had to be the whole section several times as Kaito drew invisible drawings in the ground. Even after the guy picked what it was he kept quiet about it. That, or it just wasn't all that important. All his abilities were for battle.

Hakuba looked to Hattori. "Here. Conan-kun should wake up shortly and I'm sure he knows we are awake, so we can eat."

Hattori raised an eyebrow. "'e knows we're awake?"

"I think so… I can tell what everyone is doing when I'm asleep." Hakuba-kun looked to him and Kaito had to smile.

"I can too. It's how we elves sleep. Gensai I think sleep differently. He looks pretty out of it. Let me check." He had never investigated the newly added race much before now. "Nope, he'll be out just like Hattori-kun was. I still say we eat without him. You guys were up all night, right?"

"Not all of it. I suppose he can eat later. Did he level?"

"Yeah, before he went to bed I helped him. Just like you he didn't listen to me at all."

Hakuba smiled and pulled out containers of food, probably whatever it was they were cooking last night that he phased out. It smelled really weird. "What is that?"

"Not goblin if that's what you are worried about. I'm strictly hunting animals as long as it's possible. Here." Hakuba handed him one of the containers, giving another over to Hattori. "If you don't like it you can go find something else."

"Elf. Apparently I don't care what I eat as much as I used to." Maybe his stomach was different or something. His taste buds certainly were and, while it tasted kind of salty and was a bit chewy, Kaito didn't mind eating mystery animal. He was somewhat happy it stayed a mystery.

Conan woke up ages later, Kaito just going around making random leaves light up. He almost got one of them to look like a Christmas tree and Hakuba had walked away, putting his hood back up.

"What are you doing?"

"Having fun." Kaito jumped down. "I'm okay for a while but I don't want to test what happens if I keep failing to fight off this stuff. Think we can get back to town?"

"Yeah." Conan, looking far more used to this than the rest of them, dusted himself off and sat some feet away. "I need to get to town to work on something. You guys go get your illness fixed while I do. I'll be about an hour anyway."

"We are going to be in town so it should be safe, let's not take chances though." Kaito tipped his head to Hattori-kun. "You go with him. Hakuba-kun won't be able to fight well in the sun and odds are we'll be at a temple. No one would dare attack us there. Come find us when you're done. I'm sure you saw that temple earlier. It was the white stone building with the pillars and the statues."

Hattori-kun nodded. "I saw it. Sure." He looked down at Conan. "What'cha plannin' on doin' anyway?"

"Just casing a spell. I need ingredients though. I was hoping Hakuba-kun could look for them but it shouldn't cost that much to buy them. It's the other stuff I need that will be a little expensive."

"You should get some backup armor too." Kaito noticed the little guy was fine now but that leather armor got torn to pieces before and he had little defense as it was.

"Sure. I'll put it on my 'to do' list." There was a mocking tone there.

Kaito snorted, going over to the deer and letting Hakuba-kun get on it first. Unlike the other two strange detectives, he didn't have any animal handling skills and he wasn't about to risk getting thrown just because he wanted to be first.

…

Conan had to spend almost all the money he had, along with what Hattori had on him. The small brass bowl currently sat in front of him while he focused, feeling his legs asleep under him while the ingredients burned away and he waited. It felt like this was taking forever.

Then there was a voice in his head. It was male, soft, something that didn't sound human even if it was speaking with words that he was familiar with. He latched onto that connection, asking for the creature's help, trying to complete the spell.

Everything went pretty fast then, the mind-speaking, or whatever it was, quicker than what he could have conveyed vocally. He opened his eyes, finding a small red dragon with a strange tail sitting on the edge of the bowl and staring at him, the fire dying quickly now that the spell was over.

"Jeez." Hattori had been off to his left the last time he had his eyes open. He was now sitting on the ground a few feet from him and he heard him scramble to get up.

"Don't worry, he's a friend." Conan put his hand out, the dragon crawling up his arm and wrapping itself around his shoulders. It barely had enough space, even being a small dragon.

"Ya kin make dragons now?!"

"Hardly." Conan narrowed his eyes. "I didn't create him, I summoned him. If I could have created them I would have made a lot more than one."

"Ah, right." Hattori came over slowly, looking like he wanted to poke the dragon. "Does it bite?"

"And sting. Don't worry though, he's a good guy." Conan smiled and pet the dragon himself, since Hattori was too scared to. "He won't hurt you." There was some weird kind of noise the dragon made, almost like a cat, and it turned to nuzzle the side of his face.

"Ah, that's still pretty cool." Hattori smirked and looked the dragon and him over. "Suits ya too."

Conan wanted to shrug but though better of it with is new friend on his shoulders. "What do you want me to call you?"

The dragon simply tipped his head and purred again, it's voice ringing in his ears. " _Whatever you want."_

"Hirai then. Are you okay with that?" It was Japanese but he was still going by 'Conan' here, and while he hadn't introduced himself to anyone, he was fairly sure this place was full of strange names. It wasn't as if just people Japan didn't play.

It nodded, making a weird kind of squeak that Conan wouldn't have associated with dragons before. Slipping on his cloak, Conan pulled the hood up, hoping to hide the little guy as much as he could. Walking around with any size of a dragon didn't seem like a good idea.

"That part of yer new level?" Hattori asked as they head back.

Conan nodded. "Kind of. It's a spell. I'm sure other people could learn it and some choose simply not to. I doubt stronger people need a familiar. I'll admit it, I'm kind of weak and I'd rather have utility spells if I'm not going to be doing much damage. As long as I have a few good attacks, weaker spells are pointless."

"Can't say I know much ' bout spells. Don't got any an' I don't think I ever will. It's pretty cool though. Considerin' how weird this world is, I guess I shouldn't be that amazed. What do ya think we're supposed to do now? Look around?"

"There were a few quests but I'm not sure if they're still here. It was before the attack and a lot of this place was destroyed." Conan blinked and turned to Hattori. "What was that attack anyway?" So much happened that it had slipped his mind.

Hattori shrugged. "Some dragon just came outta no where and attacked near the outskirts a' the town, so Hakuba-kun an' I woke up ta help. Tried attacking it but it didn't really seem ta hurt it. Next thing I know the thing has me an' we're in the air. Had to whack it a few times to get it ta let us down." Hattori grinned. "It was awesome."

"A dragon…" So it was something that attacked like the dragon that Kuroba had made himself after. That could be either good or bad in the long run. White dragons were likely very powerful. Hattori had been lucky.

"Couldn't really see it well in the dark and all but seein' a dragon like in real life is… kind of terrifyin'."

Conan lidded his eyes and pointed to his shoulder. "You know, Hirai here is a real dragon too, right?"

"Yeah, little tiny red guy. Ain't like this big black thing that-"

"Black?"

Hattori blinked. "I think. It was dark out. Yer better off askin' Hakuba-kun ta be sure. Not sure if 'e could tell color in the dark either though."

Conan had looked over the book as well and saw nothing about black dragons having cold attacks. Maybe the dragon wasn't alone. There could easily have been others, even a wizard, that Hattori simply hadn't seen. "We'll talk about it later. We should get back to the others."

…

Saguru touched the shield, debating if he should get one. He could easily put it on his back and draw it if he was forced into close combat like he had the few times they remained in a group.

Kuroba hadn't taken long to heal and had run off the second he was better to the shop down the street instead of waiting for the others. Afraid of losing all of them, Saguru had followed along after the thief, watching him eye a few of the daggers on the shelf before speaking with the storeowner.

Hood up, Saguru looked at his hands, the gloves there hiding the black skin underneath. Besides the sun he had not wanted to show his face. The race he had chosen was an evil one, though he hardly knew that at the time and doubted Aoko-kun would have given him a race like that on purpose. Kuroba was another problem entirely, being a race that didn't exist in this game, and was stared at wherever they went. Saguru was sure the scales didn't help his image either.

"Hey, the owner is going to make me something tonight. Think we can stay in town so I can come by and pick it up tomorrow?" Kuroba tipped his head, looking from him to the shield. "What's that for?"

"I've had to use my short swords a few times now. I was thinking a better sword and a shield would be a smarter tactic."

"You don't like getting hurt any more than I do. I'd go with the better sword. Make sure it's one you're good with though."

Saguru looked at the weapons on the shelf before back to Kuroba. The thief sighed.

"You don't know what weapons you can use well, do you?"

"I think that would be obvious."

"Let me check." Kuroba opened his menu that was visible only to him. The store clerk didn't think anything of it and Saguru had to wonder how much of what they did was normal and what wasn't. "Looks like you're good with all of them. Cool. So just pick, though make sure it's not two handed or the shield would be pointless."

Saguru looked the weapons over, unsure which were better and then thinking that some could be wielded one handed. Others looked impossible. Eventually, Kuroba reached out and took something that looked like a large pick off the wall.

"Here. This is light and it's cheap while being one of the stronger one handed weapons you can have. It's called a war pick. If you want you could probably afford the flail too but I don't think you have much on you."

Saguru looked at the weapon, holding it in his hand and wincing. Whoever he hit with this, it would be dealing deep, painful damage, and there would be a lot of blood.

Kuroba took it from him and handed him the flail instead. "Here then. I'll cover what you can't. What I want isn't that expensive."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's cheap anyway. Come on. We'll buy yours now so I can tell how much I'll need." Kuroba went over to the owner, Saguru following along and feeling like a child. He didn't want anything if he could help it.

New weapon at his side and his swords gone, they left. There wasn't much he could do with the swords if he was going to be worrying about protecting himself, so holding onto them would only slow him down.

It was an hour still of waiting at the temple before the others returned, Conan-kun with a dragon.

That was a surprise but he and Lestrade didn't seem to have any issues getting along, both taking to the sky and testing each other out while their masters watched from below.

"A dragon and a hawk." Kuroba shook his head. "At least we'll be able to scout. How about we do some of that now? There's a lot about this place we don't know and leveling is easier to do when we have an adversary. I doubt you all want to go out into the woods everyday and kill everything we come across until we get to level four."

Saguru shook his head. "Only for food."

"Go look for a quest then." Kuroba skipped off, _backwards_ , turning and heading further in town. "We'll meet back here in half an hour."

…

Conan wasn't looking forward to this. One of the quests he had found here before was gone. The second was searching the graveyard on the outskirts of the city where there were sightings of a ghost. Any other quest seemed to be a missing person who had vanished the night of the attack. Those were going to be impossible to take on.

"So we fightin' the ghosts or we just gonna ferget this town and move onta the other one? I bet there'r more quests there than there are here if it's bigger."

"Yeah, and considering we took care – more or less – of the bandit problem, the roads should be cleared now." Kuroba scratched his head. "I'm not sure how hard this ghost one will be until we get there, so I can't say if we should skip it."

"It's not as if we'll know how difficult it will be in the next city over either." Hakuba picked up his pack and threw it over his shoulder. "I doubt we'll level after this in any case so it's worth checking out. A ghost can't be terribly hard to run away from it it's sticking to the graveyard."

"And if it's not, we get haunted."

A few of them laughed quietly at that, thinking it a funny idea. Kuroba didn't seem all that serious about the threat of gaining an extra ghostly member so, with a few new 'pets' in tow, they set out to check out the graveyard before night fell. Conan was pretty sure they couldn't see a ghost during the day but he'd never encounter one before.

It wasn't all that far, maybe a mile or two, that separated the graves of those that died in the village from those that still lived. Hakuba stayed back, since his vision was bad during the day, taking shelter under one of the nearby trees while the rest of them looked around.

It wasn't foreboding or anything. No strange moss grew anywhere and it looked well kept.

Taking a look at the name on some of the graves, it seemed that even if they were born at separate times, families were placed as close to one another as they could be. A few from later generations were the only exception. The current year in this game must have been in the hundreds, judging from the numbers.

"Well, ghosts don't usually show up during the day, as we said." Kuroba, strangely enough, was being careful not to step near where a person's body lay, let alone avoiding the stones themselves. It was strange to see him side-stepping everything so much, as if they'd come out of the ground and bite him. Since there were ghosts though, there very well might be zombies.

"Might as well. What can you tell us about ghosts?"

"Hmm. Well, we'll have a hard time fighting one," Kuroba admitted. "So, again, running away is a very viable option. They're resistant to non-magical weapons, namely all of our weapons. Most magical poisons and stuff I don't believe work on them, being dead and everything. I haven't run into more than one though, and I never had a magic user in the group, so for you I can't say what would be best. Use your best judgment and know we'll all be doing a lot less damage than normal."

"Okay…" Conan stopped and thought about that. They weren't in a rush to get anywhere just yet. "So what _should_ I use."

"Mmm. Well, I can't look up monsters on my computer anymore and I don't have a guild to them. Off the top of my head I'd say those light bolts you shoot out should work just fine. They're force or radiant damage, aren't they?"

Conan wasn't sure and had to open his menu, scrolling through. "Force damage, yes."

"I'm not sure if that'll work or not. It's a physical attack. Radiant always works against undead things but I don't have any of those spells myself."

Conan shook his head. "I don't either. I'll try it."

"We'll all be doing half damage so it's fine." Kuroba twirled his dagger around in the air a few times, in much better spirits than he had been while he'd be sick. It was nice to have him up and excited again, but this game wasn't a game anymore and Conan was finding himself at odds with the other's behavior half the time.

"While we're on the topic, I have a few spells as well. I take it staying away from them will be the better option?" Hakuba was far enough away that he had to speak up.

"What spells?"

"I have hail of thrones as well as hunter's mark."

Kuroba whistled. "That second one would actually be really good if this is a ghost. You'd be able to track them even if we can't see them. I'd hit it with that once we're sure what we're dealing with."

Hakuba had never used any magic attacks but it didn't seem like that was one he'd need to practice, as 'marking' something wasn't much of a spell.

Spending the day doing nothing was tedious beyond belief, though he did pick up on the looks that their group kept getting when they were back in town, most aimed at Hakuba who was doing his best to keep his hood up and head down and avoid the others.

"Dark elves, you said that was your race, right?" Conan was curious and they would be sitting here, drinking a bit of water – apparently the little diner typically severing beer to any of it's patrons and none of them wanting to test how good a fighter they were afterwards – and nothing else to talk about.

Hakuba nodded. "Drowl? Drow? I've been pronouncing it as if it rhymes with 'crow' in my head, but the last time I did that was when it was simply Kuroba-kun and I awake, he kept snickering at me, so 'dark elf' works."

"If it's a race that hates sunlight I imagine that most of them live underground. They can't have had many scuffles with people then." Conan turned to Kuroba, who at least knew more about races than he did ghosts. "So why are they so uneasy?"

"Drow," Kuroba spoke, making it sound more like it rhymed with 'cow', "are evil elves that live underground and worship the spider queen. There's even a separate adventure in the game where you go down there and kill her followers. I don't think a lot of people in the game would have seen any but they would know of them. If more of us picked that race we might have problems but just being him and you and Hattori-kun being here, it'll be fine. It's like seeing a three-headed dog in our world. People just like to stare."

"No once seems as put off by your race, and you claim it doesn't exist here."

"No because Moon elves were still part of this game and they are typically good guys. I'm still a basic elf, like I told you before. I just look a little unique. Again, people like to stare."

Hakuba had a hand to his face and looked like he was rubbing it across his forehead. It was hard to tell with the hood up. "There is no way to change race at this point, is there?"

Kuroba shook his head. "Once you've picked one there's no going back. Class is about the only thing you can change, and only by leveling another above what your current one at. Since the little guy and I only put one level into another class, we're not going to have most of the weapons, traits, or recognition as those classes."

"I wish there were sunglasses here."

"You know, I was actually thinking about that. It'll look funny but if we get some thin black material and a cornet of some kind, we can make you sunglasses. You won't be able to see well but you can't see well in the sun anyway and it might not hurt as badly."

That only made Hakuba lower his head further. "I'd look like a widower in mourning or something."

"With that hood up you'd look more like an assassin and at least you'd be getting looks for a whole other reason."

"I'll think about it."

The hours passed by slowly but there wasn't much to do. Kuroba still needed to pick something up the next day and then they'd be heading to that other town. If they were lucky they'd run into something they could handle on the way, maybe gain another level. That seemed the only purpose of this 'game'.

Even after the sunset they waited, the area black and most everyone gone to bed by the time they left. Hattori had the moonlight to work with so he wasn't as loud as usual, with the treetops typically stealing even that from him and leaving him in blackness.

" _So, we got a better strategy than runnin' up ta it an' smacking it around?_ "

" _Yes,_ " Kuroba led their little group, Conan taking his place besides Hattori so he could hear what they were saying. " _You and I are going to be upfront. He might have resistance to our weapons but I'll be dealing enough damage for two as long as I hit him, so I'll even out. I'm going to need you to protect me if he goes after me. Hakuba-kun and the little guy will be at least twenty feet back and trying to stay out of the way. Got it?"_

Conan nodded. He'd have to be on the other side so that the two up front weren't blocking his vision. He was sure he and Hakuba could settle on something before the fight started.

A short, wooden fence edged the graveyard. It wouldn't keep out anything vicious, but he supposed it was more to mark the area than anything else.

Keeping to a few trees scattered amount the stones, it wasn't hard to see the ghost that the woman who told him of the quest was talking about.

It was a ghost. A realistic enough ghost in any case. Conan could see right through it, though it was possible to make out the armor adorning it even in the afterlife.

" _Okay, you both stay here. Hattori-kun, you and I are going to circle half around and see if we can take it by surprise. By that, I mean you stay back and let me go in first. If I hit it or not, you run in after me. Okay?"_

Hattori nodded and they both set off, Conan sticking back and knowing he didn't need to be all that close but, at the range they were at now, their spells wouldn't work.

" _We wait for them to attack. We'll be able to move close enough after."_

Conan turned when Hakuba spoke, not realizing he had taken a step forward. " _Right_."

With the darkness hiding his features now, Hakuba had the hood off and smirked at him. " _You're very eager, aren't you? More so than any one of us. I'm a bit surprised."_

Conan shrugged. He was never one for fighting so he didn't know why he was coming off that way. " _I hate sitting still_."

They didn't have to wait much longer. Once Kuroba and Hattori had gotten far enough away while going in a circle, Conan watched Kuroba first, going in for attack, blending in both with the darkness around him and the moonlight simultaneously, slashing away at the ghostly form of the solider, weapons moving through the form with little resistance.

There was, however, a thin trail of something on the edge of the sword when Conan watched Kuroba shift back into position.

Hattori wasn't far behind though his weapon was harder to see, being so thin and so far away, as he struck the man.

There was a cry, some near-silent cursing, and the ghostly solider turned on the other two.

Kuroba was faster than Conan would even move, the ghost seeming to know what was coming and becoming less… _there_ somehow.

Until he moved close enough to attack himself, the words for the spell on his lips and his hand raised, Conan had to wonder why they were attacking the ghost. It had done nothing to them and nothing to the town, aside from scare off a few at night, when they likely shouldn't be there anyway.

The glowing little darts hit the ghost in the shoulder, causing him to turn and stare at them. It's eyes looked human, as did the rest of him now that Conan had a chance to really care. He had longer hair in life, just as messy now as it must have been then.

Hakuba didn't have the same reservations Conan was only now developing. There was a slight glow around the man as Hakuba nocked and let fly an arrow, the weapon just missing as it went over his shoulder.

Angered by their attack, Conan watched it draw a transparent sword from its side, longer and thicker than Kuroba's. It went after the thief, Hattori moving as they had planned, making the attacks miss.

The ghost wasn't too happy with this though, flickering out of existence for a moment, like a candle flame caught in a draft.

"Should we be attacking it?" Conan asked Hakuba as Hattori went after it, almost tripping up on himself, as the now white haired teen drew another arrow. "We don't even know if it's evil."

"Even if it weren't, it's a ghost. It does not belong here." Hakuba readied his shot but glanced down at him a moment, red eyes contrasting strongly in the moonlight. "I would not want to remain should I for some reason become a ghost."

Kuroba managed to cut at it with his dagger as Conan dug into his pouch as quickly as he could. Hakuba was right. A ghost, in any world, was unnatural. It was better this way.

The magic hit as surely as it had the first time, looking like it was burning small holes into the ghost's form, more damage than the real weapons seemed to be doing as an arrow went past him once more.

Hattori tried but one of the sword swings ended up hitting Kuroba, leaving his clothes in tact for once but Conan saw him be pushed back a foot or so, coughing as if he'd lost his breath.

Ghosts could hurt people and people could do nothing back to them, or at least, very little. There were four of them and the thing was still standing.

Conan waved his hand once more, those without magic doing next to no damage now. This was the last time he could cast this spell but he could tell, with how much of the ghost was missing, it wouldn't take much more, the white light burning even more holes.

Hakuba's arrow finally hit it's mark and Conan watched the arrow take a big chunk of it's body away, the rest of it vanishing like smoke as if it had never been there at all.

Thinking about it, their battle had been rather quiet. Odds were no one had even known it was going out. The noise was hardly loud enough to reach the town.

Kuroba let out a breath and the other came back over towards them. "See, it's easy when you have a plan. Hattori-kun, you're a much better shield then I thought you would be. That's a really great ability and it works great with my own. We should do that more often."

Hattori shrugged but he was smiling, tapping his armor. "Ain't like it's easy for 'em to hit me either."

Conan pet the little dragon around his neck. Hirai wasn't going to be used for any battles that he could see and he was sure that Hawk of Hakuba's was around here somewhere too. "Compared to our last few battles, that was easy."

"We're level three now. We're past the point of being incredibly squishy and are at moderately squishy. This is our first real chance to show it off."

Conan nodded. He hadn't been able to do anything new this level that he hadn't been able to last, but maybe it mattered more with the others.

"You look disappointed."

Conan stared around at the others when he noticed more than just Kuroba's eyes on him.

"Well, it was a ghost but we have no idea why it was here. Was he a villager who was killed in the attack last week? Could he have given us information? We didn't even think to ask him anything, we just attacked."

"Hmm." Kuroba put a hand under his chin. "I guess you're right, we could have tried something. Not being as weak anymore, I didn't consider it an option. Fine, from here on out if there's a ghost you really want to talk to, by all means, talk to it. It was simply too dangerous to risk before if they turned on us."

Conan could see that. It wasn't as if anything had given them a chance to talk before either.

"Next time, promise." Kuroba hand a hand down to him in a childish gesture, his pinky sticking out. "Okay? I'm sorry I didn't think about it this time around."

Conan just knocked his hand to the side and smiled, going back to town. "What good is the promise of a thief?"


	13. Dog-eat-dog World

**Chapter 13: Dog-eat-dog World**

Horses would have been nice but Conan seemed more than irritated when Kaito went back for his little deer that the innkeeper had found in his room and had been taking care of. That was really nice, as far as Kaito was concerned. Realistically, even for this world, they would have shooed the creature out – or eaten it.

Kaito didn't mind waiting while Hakuba went and found a few more 'adult' deer they could ride, Hattori getting on with Hakuba when they had a pair. It surprised him, but not that much.

It seemed the two detectives were becoming pretty good friends while he wasn't watching.

"I suppose you received as much information as us about this other major port town. I was thinking if we find nothing of importance there we might as well just cross the water to the larger part of the continent."

"Honestly I was hoping Akako-san would have noticed we were gone by now." Kaito scratched his head, thinking on the witch. There was no way she'd let someone else take him out of the equation. She'd already proved that. "We have to have been missing for a while now."

"Unless the time in this game doesn't transfer over," Conan spoke up. "For all we know a day here could be a second there."

"I don't think she's big on time manipulation but I know nothing about her little sister. I didn't even know she had one."

Saguru shook his head. "Neither did I but it hadn't exactly come up in conversation before, and I've hardly been at school much to get to know anyone further than the classroom. Well, for the most part. There have been a few exceptions."

Kaito knew Hakuba was looking at him and ignored it as best he could, absently scratching at his arm. He was still a little hurt, even cured now and at a higher level, but there wasn't exactly time to rest. This town had already been attacked by something and odds were, if it happened once, it very possibly would happen again. "Getting us all with muffins. That sounds so stupid. I should have- ah, well. I didn't know it was her." Akako herself had tried to get him with that chocolate bar before. If it was half as powerful as her sisters 'food', he likely _would_ have ended up enslaved to her… and that thought was rather terrifying.

"It'll be morning soon enough." Hakuba pulled at his cloak, a habit Kaito noticed a while ago. They didn't typically stay up at night so having the constant sun in his face likely had him reaching for it all the time whenever they were about to leave. "You are going to get whatever item you asked for and we'll leave after, correct? I'm going to simply take a rest under one of these trees then. We'll convene again when we're all awake."

Kaito wanted to say something again. They could easily wait until dusk to leave and travel a great majority at night while sleeping during the day. Having Hattori inconvenience wouldn't be terrible, even if their trip would be back through the darker forest.

And whatever further monstrosities lay in it.

Kaito sighed, putting his own hood up and taking the nearest tree for himself. "Night then."

…

It was… much, much easier traveling with Hakuba. Kaito hadn't really cared to notice much aside from pain on their first trip as a whole group through the forest, but he was certainly noticing it now.

They didn't have to stick to the trails, meaning they weren't running into anyone on the road – and since they didn't really need anything and there were still a ton of bandits out there, that was a good thing. Hakuba always knew which way they should be going, even after the sun set and they traveled through the woods in the dark.

Camping would have been nice but they didn't need the rest or the attention. Conan and his little ball of light trick that Kaito knew he could have easily pulled off too were more than enough to take care of Hattori.

"I know we're not always going to be in the woods but man, Hakuba-kun. You rock."

Hakuba laughed, something he hadn't been doing much since they'd gotten here. "Thank you, I think. While we were in town I was also able to pick up a few vials. When I have time I was gathering what I needed for that restorative potion. It's nice to have a few in case of emergencies."

That it was. It wasn't like they'd help much, what with how weak healing potions really were, but it was way better than not having them.

"Hm. I don't think I want to compliment you again. Your head might get too big for your shoulders."

Hakuba shook his head, looking before him. He had taking up lead since he couldn't be too near the small light. "I'm I liability in battle when it comes down to it. Without you all, I wouldn't be able to fight. I think your abilities and straightforward way of fighting is far more useful than what I can do."

Kaito pointed up. "You have what-cha-mah-call-it looking out or any enemies too. I don't know. That seems a lot more useful then being able to throw one of these, and you should be able to do that well anyway." Kaito liked keeping a dagger in his hand, tossing it and watching the faint light reflect off the blade as it twirled a few times in the air before he caught it again. He had more than a few of them now, all strapped to an ammo belt he had made for him to hold them that drew itself diagonally across his chest, no armor to get in the way. It was too hard to go searching around if he threw one.

"Lestrade. Honestly, it's not that hard to remember."

Conan laughed quietly behind him, Kaito frowning. It wasn't his fault that the books was boring and 'Lestrade' never ended up being much of a character anyway for him to remember the name.

"Hey."

Kaito turned and looked at Hattori, who decided he didn't want to keep walking and was leaning against a tree.

"I know yer'll some kind of night-owl races an' stuff, but we set out at daybreak an' this armor is gettin' even heavier. It's gotta be some time in the a.m. as it is. Can't we sleep?"

"It'll take us a few days through the forest, more so because we're walking. Hakuba didn't have any time to find deer _again_ (they always ran off in the night, when they were sleeping) and, to be honest, they'd have a hard time in some of the areas here so it's not the best idea. As long as you can keep going, lets. The faster we get out of here, the better, and I doubt that the game really cares if you make up on lost sleep or not."

"Ah, fine." Hattori punched the tree as he got off of it, scuffing his feet on the grass. "Bet'cha wouldn't be sayin' the same thing if ya were in my shoes though."

"I would. The forest at night is dangerous. Walking through it, as long as we're close enough to the road that animals won't have made up living quarters, is safer than sitting still."

"No more forest after this then if they're that dangerous."

"I wasn't planning on it, actually. Sorry, Hakuba-kun." Kaito smirked. "Better not to be in them though."

"I have no issues with that, though it will make fighting for me difficult if there is no shade."

"Don't worry about that. When we level next, I'm forcing Hattori-kun to do what I say." Kaito narrowed his eyes at the very loud fighter behind them. "You hear me this time? No going against me. You need to be able to see in the dark."

"Huh? I can see in the dark next level?"

Kaito nodded. "If you do what I say."

"Sure. I got no problem with that. Been feelin' kinda bad about Hakuba-kun being all sensitive and all."

"Says the guy who complains it's too dark when the sun sets."

"Ya know I don't care if-"

"Shush!" Kaito stopped, Hakuba ahead of him so he could do nothing about him. "No fighting. Monsters live here, remember? Do you _want_ the whole forest to hear you? Anything out at night will have great eyesight and just as good hearing."

"Yeah, well. He started it."

"I did not. You were the one that-"

Kaito sighed, loudly. "Children, what am I going to do with you?"

…

They had to stop the next day to sleep and eat, though Kaito waited the absolute minimum before taking off. They had more than enough food to last them the few days through the forest that he would rather burn through it than have everyone running around, listening to a very small, very loud little detective who wanted to do more than the walk-sleep-eat routine.

Night four had the trees thinning and lights reflecting lightly across the sky.

"That town shouldn't be more than a few hours off." Kaito narrowed his eyes, looking up. "Little guy, think you can send your dragon and see what he sees? You can look through his eyes or something, right?"

"Huh? No." Conan pushed his hood down, the dragon that was hiding among the folds of cloth emerging. "We just talk to each other."

"Ah, sorry. I was never big into researching the warlock class. Think you can ask him to fly up and see how far away it is?"

"Considering he can understand you just fine and he's not some sort of robot, yes." Conan scratched the dragon's neck, the red scales reflecting like a poisonous flower in the glow before it took off.

"You know, I never understood that. Why the pseudodragons are the color of evil dragons."

Conan shrugged. "You know a lot more about this than I do. How should I know? He's not evil."

Kaito had to smile, looking up at the dragon. He wondered how much better that little creature could see than he could. "I know. I was just musing."

The little would-be dragon didn't take long to come back down but Kaito was more interested in watching Conan, when he noticed the guy lower his hand and the light make everything look more eerie and less 'bright'.

The dragon landed on the kid's shoulders, winding itself back around him as Conan put up his hood and whispered, Kaito barely able to make out that he was even making noise.

"Huh?"

Conan spoke a little louder, but not much. " _Can you hear me?"_

Kaito nodded. " _Yeah, why?_ " His own whisper wasn't as quiet since he didn't know if the little guy could hear as well as he could, or how either of their races affected normal talents.

" _There's something watching us. Hirai says it's a little in front of us, to the right. I can't see anything. Whatever it is, it's hiding behind a tree a bit. He thinks it's an animal. Can you see it?"_

Kaito didn't feel much like turning around and letting whatever it was that was watching them know they'd spotted it. " _Looking might not be the best idea. How far away?"_

" _Mmm._ " Conan turned to the side as if listening to something. " _Maybe thirty feet or so."_

Kaito turned to Hakuba, not moving too much or too fast. " _You've been listening?"_

Hakuba nodded, tipping his head. " _I'd have to turn around as well, so I haven't tried looking. Should we simply go on as if we do not know it's there and see if it attacks us? If it doesn't, we may be able to spot it. I only sent Lestrade out to look for danger, and he hasn't returned, but it's very possible if another creature were using the trees to hide, and him being above them, that he simply didn't see it. There is only one, correct?"_

Conan nodded.

" _You know ya guys are_ very _hard ta hear. I'm only catchin' half a' this._ " Hattori, unlike Kaito, wasn't facing away from whatever the danger was, though he doubted that he'd be able to make out anything that the little fire-user couldn't.

Any animal watching them would be doing it for either the purpose of attacking them or, at best, stealing their food while they slept. It was no bunny rabbit if the dragon alerted to it though.

" _We turn. We walk. We attack. Best-case scenario I see. I'll light something when I'm close enough to it so you know where to go, okay Hattori-kun?"_

Hattori nodded, as did the others. The little detective wasn't smiling anymore like he tended to do every time he was about to run them into something dangerous, so maybe there were a few pluses to this. He was learning.

Kaito turned first, nodding forward to Hakuba. He still had to lead, what with the light source ruining his vision if he didn't.

Hakuba could also see _a lot_ better then them and had an arrow. If he could hit it, it would make it much easier to find.

Conan put out his light, something that was likely a bad idea but, if he was going to be working with Hakuba, not the worst idea.

There were words, spoken low, and Kaito turned to his night-blending classmate as he cast some sort of spell that did not _look_ or _sound_ like a ranger spell.

Whatever it was it didn't seem to work, and Conan stepped up quickly, speaking the words to that 'never miss' spell he had.

The three glowing darts were more than enough to see by as they zoomed past him and struck the animal.

It looked… kind of like a wolf. Kaito knew he hadn't seen it two seconds ago, but the darts outlined it well enough, let alone the surprised whimpering sound the creature made as it stumbled about.

Kind of like a wolf. The second the lights went out and it stared at them, the creatures eye's flashed red, reflecting the barest hints of moonlight.

"Werewolf." Kaito went for his other dagger, not wanting to get near it. He'd already been infected with one disease, he didn't want another. Where there was one werewolf, there was a pack.

The wolf – or werewolf, if Kaito was right – must have been thinking the same thing.

It ran.

"Damn it." Kaito wasn't sure what to do. They could chase it but, in the dark, it was faster and could see. Hattori would be next to useless. If it was getting its pack though, they'd all be dead. You didn't mess around with werewolves in this game, at least, not at so low a level. "The town. How far?"

"Ah, me?" Conan pointed to himself. "I don't know. An hour or so? Hirai wasn't very specific."

"Less if we run." Kaito tipped his head toward Hakuba. "Mark it. Hurry. It's heading towards the town anyway. Better to know where it is than not. If you can't do it, it's fine."

"That would be great if I could see it." Hakuba took off and Kaito was quick to follow him. Hattori would just have to follow or be lost in the dark. This wasn't time to be baby-sitting him, and to be fair, they didn't really need Conan right now.

"Conan-kun, stay back and get him to town!"

Kaito wasn't sure if he'd listen to him or not but he wasn't all that worried. The wolf was ahead of them still, moving far faster than them, and he wasn't sure if Hakuba got a good enough look at it or was even close enough to mark the damn thing.

They stopped before the lights invaded the forest what had to be a good few dozen minutes later, both out of breath and who knew how far away from the town. Running through a forest at night, even with good vision, wasn't the easiest thing to do.

Hakuba shook his head, positioning his bow in his hands. "I couldn't get close enough."

"I figured." Kaito looked on ahead. The other two weren't nearby and, as much as he would like to keep running, having to look for them would be a pain. "Go back and get the others? I'm not sure if they kept up enough with us. I'll stay here. If you hear me screaming and running in your direction, be prepared to fight."

Hakuba nodded, tuning to go and stopping before looking back. "A werewolf you said. Those are the creatures that create more by wounding someone, correct?"

"Yeah." Kaito wasn't going to turn back. He'd rather face the direction he'd last seen the monster. "And it heading to town is just weird."

"Hm? Why?"

"Well, because." Kaito waved his hands to his side. "It's not like it's a town full of werewolves. They'll know what it is when they see it. Sure it might be able to infect some people, but they'd kill it even if we didn't catch up to it first. It doesn't make sense."

"I'm unsure. I'm not that familiar with this game or the history on supernatural creatures."

Kaito shrugged. "It's just weird. Hurry up and go."

"Very well."

Hakuba took off back through the woods. He was far better at seeing and tracking here that Kaito hadn't been sure enough in his abilities to go back instead of having Hakuba on watch. Climbing up into a tree, he waited. Werewolf or no werewolf, in wolf form, the monster couldn't climb.

…

"Thanks for ditching us."

Kaito grinned at the little detective as Hakuba led them the rest of the journey to town. "You had your little familiar. I was sure you weren't far behind. And you weren't."

"Maybe I should show you what else he can do." There was a little hiss as the dragon popped his head out from under the hood, like an angry lizard protecting its baby. Kaito had to laugh quietly to himself, thinking the scene far more cute than scary.

"So." Hakuba stopped before the exited, kicking a bit at the ground. "Why are we going _towards_ a werewolf and not away? I understand that we need to get information from town, as the last one left us with little, but waiting until daylight when Hattori-kun can see and I would think a werewolf would be less dangerous sounds far better."

"Doesn't matter." Kaito pointed up. "The full moon is the only thing that matters, at least it was. Werewolves go crazy on it. Otherwise it's like any other creature except it has human intelligence. Conan-kun did a fair bit of damage for once-"

"Hey!"

"For once," Kaito repeated, looking down at the guy far shorter than the rest of them, keeping his hood up likely to hide the dragon. "You're a trouble maker. Deal with the label until you prove otherwise, squishy wizard."

A small plum of flame flickered to life in the little guy's hands. It cast the forest in a brighter glow. "I'd say going into town with a werewolf is a bad idea too, so that leaves you the trouble maker. It ran. You said werewolves were typically in packs. That means there's more here and, as you said, 'like any other creature'. I'm assuming like legend werewolves can look human."

Kaito nodded. "They can. A whole pack of them in a town though- no. The townsfolk would know. The full moon would affect them all and, even if it was a 'good' pack. There's no way they wouldn't notice _anything_."

"Which means they're sheltering a pack of werewolves, which is even worse."

"A town wouldn't do that."

"So what are we doing?" Hakuba pulled his hood up to hide a bit from the flame. "Going after a lone werewolf then?"

"Yes."

They all stared at him for a while before Kaito sighed.

"Really. We're missing some story line. Normally werewolves are the bad guys. They live in the forest, in packs, and I'm sure at some point in the game you fight the leader for some reason or another. This one is alone. So either it's part of a quest or we have an insane werewolf that now has a bunch of townspeople to have at. Either way, we should do something about it."

"Our plan then is to talk to the wolf?" Hakuba raised an eyebrow and Kaito had to laugh.

"Well, we could do it that way. I was planning on knocking it out and giving it the opportunity to change so that we actually _can_ talk with it. Unless you can speak to animals, which I'm more than positive you either didn't take or don't have as a spell, there's not really another way."

"We did just kinda chase it away and it ran. Makes me think it's some kinda trap. I dunno. If we try and talk ta it 'er somethin' it's probably just gonna run again. That's why ya wanna knock it out, right?"

Kaito nodded. "One of the reasons, yes. It makes it easier. The other one is, if it's dangerous to have alive, we can just kill it after." He grinned. "Kinda evil of me, I know, but it's the safe way."

No one objected so Kaito lead the way first into the town, Hakuba hiding his face and falling towards the back. It was a good course of action, so Kaito didn't refute it when he was left with the squishy wizard and the not so squishy fighter at his back. A werewolf was bad enough that he didn't want to take the chance to see how a town as large as this one was – that had _no_ protection from the natural forest around it aside from the bright lights and noise it was given off, even at so late an hour – would react.

The werewolf wasn't as hard to find as he thought it would be either.

There were plenty of people out, the town light near as bright as day with floating orbs of light that looked like the work of some inlaid spell. He was sure if he looked around he could figure out exactly how they worked but that would be if he were on the very edges of boredom.

Most of the races here were elves, though of no particular strand. Kaito knew hair color told most of them apart and the fact that some were as white his own all to way to red and green and blue and black and everywhere in between, meant he wouldn't stick out as much as normal. There were humans too, though not nearly as many. If there was interbreeding between the two races it wasn't obvious. In real life though, it probably wouldn't be.

There was a tavern, as well lit as any of the buildings around it were, several of the taller, stockier elves, standing outside of it. In bold red letters the place deemed itself "The Drinking Hole." Not very original.

Between the elves was the wolf, a far lighter color than Kaito had originally thought when he'd seen it. The creature met his eyes, putting its ears flat against its head, and taking a few steps backwards without turning. The elves around it heard and all turned to stare at their little group as well.

"What do you want here?" The most 'leader' looking of them stepped forward, black hair tied up with some kind of ribbon and grown long in front of both his ears, his hair in the back cut as short as Kaito's own. It looked kind of funny to him. "Well?"

Kaito raised his hands, not holding a weapon. They couldn't take on the town and he had some spell for back up, even without being armed.

"Nothing much. We were just passing through and hoping to have a look around here before we go." It was as good as the truth, since staying in a town with at least one monster wasn't the best of ideas. "Something attacked the town to the west of here and we weren't sure what it was, but it was better to be safe than sorry so we left."

"A monster or something else?" The elf tipped his head, one hand falling and _petting_ the werewolf as if it were a common dog. "I can't say that news reached us, though we have heard of a few that have gone missing in the forest who trade between our towns. We put their disappearance to bandits."

Kaito nodded. "We had a run in with them as well. I don't know if they'll just find another but I can happily say we did take out the man who seemed to be in charge of them."

The elf laughed, a hand going into his hair and scratching his head as he looked them over. "You did, huh?"

"We did," Conan spoke up from his side, folding his arms. "You doubt us?"

The elf paused, looking Conan over more thoroughly. He waited near a minute before nodding. "I believe you. So, I ask again, and would like more detail. What are you doing here?"

"Pass-"

"Passing through." Conan interrupted Kaito, nodding his head to the elf. "Unless we find some reason to stay. We don't know this area very well and we're looking for an idea of how to keep ourselves alive and possibly help a few others along that way." The boy's glasses glinted off the surrounding light when he turned to Kaito. " _That's what we have to do to win, right?"_

Kaito nodded, not turning towards him. There was a werewolf and more than enough possible fighters before him not to put him at ease.

The elf turned and shared a look with the others before nodding and turning back to them. "I see no harm in such a quest. We don't get a lot of visitors recently that mean no harm, so we're a bit weary, I admit. My name is Silffier. May I have yours?"

Conan nodded and Kaito took a step back, letting the boy introduce them all. It didn't seem that elf cared much when none of their names really matched their races - Game mechanic or something likely.

Silffier bent down and patted the wolf on the head. "Did you attack Lunari? I would not fault you if you did, I would imagine facing him in the woods alone at night was not the best. He is our first line of defense though and I would appreciate it if you did _not_ do so again. You'd have more than me to deal with if you do."

Kaito snorted. "You have a werewolf on guard duty?"

"Werewolf?" Silffier stared down at the wolf a few seconds before smiling. "Maybe. I haven't really asked much about him. He is with us though and that is all that matters. He's proved his loyalty and, to be honest, this city needs him."

The werewolf took a few steps forward, its fur singed black behind its front legs where Conan's spell likely got him. The creature still had its ears back, but drew closer nonetheless until it stopped right in front of them.

It was one of the weirdest werewolves Kaito had ever seen in the game, that was for sure. Normally they were gray or black, to blend in with the forest. This one was the color of sand and had strange black markings under it's eyes, as if someone had taken charcoal and rubbed it under each of it's yellow, cat-colored eyes. The strangest thing about it, that would separate it from even similar colored wolves, was a dangling earring containing a single blue bead and a crescent moon on the end that was attached between the base and tip of its ear.

Conan, against all better judgment, reached out a petted the werewolf before smiling. It was creepy in a whole new way, not that Kaito didn't know he had a little dragon as well. "Sorry about that. Why was he in the woods though? Have you been attacked? You were saying something about it being dangerous."

Silffier nodded. "The bandits we can usually handle but our trade is near non-existent now. We've had a monster dwelling just off the coast we haven't been able to get rid of. It's been sinking our ships. As a port town, we don't grow much here, and we rely on that trade, along with the trade from the other small villages. The bandits, sad enough, are in the same position we are. With nowhere to get supplies, we've been attacked more than once. Lunari here comes and warns us when we have intruders, though this is the first he's been so passive, so I had to figure something was different about your group."

"We attacked you and you knew we were the good guys." Kaito spoke for the first time in a while. "That's weird, to be honest."

The wolf snorted and he would have sworn it rolled it's eyes at him.

Silffier laughed. "It took me a while but I'm sure if he was watching you long enough it was not all that difficult to tell. You hardly look like bandits. Most of you, anyway." The elf tipped his head. "I wouldn't wear the hoods in town for one. It makes you look like you're hiding something. Remove them."

Hakuba complied after a long pause, the expressions on the other elves changing. Conan took a little longer, the dragon likely disappearing somewhere in his robes so that it couldn't be seen.

Any ease the other elves had started to feel vanished.

"What is a dark elf and a _thief_ doing here? You lie."

"We don't." Kaito raised his hands, realizing that he probably did look like the thief he was in his dark clothes and with the daggers out and obvious. He hadn't really been thinking of the image he was giving off, caring more about surviving. "I promise."

Before the tension could get any higher, the werewolf stepped towards him, nuzzling his side. Kaito tensed up, afraid it would bite him, but neither attacked one another.

In fact, the wolf sat, wagging its tail and sticking it's tongue out, turning back to the other elves.

That made a few of them laugh, two in the back whispering quiet words and going back into the tavern where they must have been before.

"Alright, but we'll be watching you all. Lunari is a good judge of character, so we'll leave you be tonight." The elf nodded, turning back with the remainder of them and waving over his shoulder. "I suppose you could come back here if you have any issues. You certainly look like you will."

"Thank you." Conan hushed Kaito when he tried to speak instead. "We will."

Then they were more or less left alone, the few others in the town doing other things, and a werewolf sitting at their feet, looking like a happy little puppy.

Kaito had to laugh, nervous about the whole situation and finding it just… funny still.

"Shut up." Conan turned to the wolf as he placed a hand under his own chin, looking the creature over. "You can speak, right?"

The wolf moved its ears as if listening in different directions before tipping its muzzle one way, standing, and going off in the direction of another street.

"I guess that means we follow it." Kaito placed a hand on the little guys head before they took off. "Thanks."

"Hey, ya know, I have no idea what you guys are sayin'."

"Huh?" Kaito turned to Hattori. "What do you mean?"

Hattori raised his eyebrows. "Okay, I understood ya that time. What were all of you just talkin' about?"

"Nothing much. You couldn't understand us?" That was weird. Kaito was sure they were speaking normally.

"It's elvish." Hakuba covered a small laugh with his hand. "It was hard for me to tell the difference as well. Apparently knowing both languages automatically translates it to our own. I had wondered the same thing at first when we ran into those goblins and I could tell what they saying. Having the elves already before us made telling the difference in language a bit harder to differentiate. I'm assuming, Hattori-kun, that that isn't one of your skills."

"I- I guess not. You kin all speak a language I can't?"

Hakuba answered him in a guttural sounding version of German or Russian that couldn't pass for either language if it _tried_. Kaito tipped his head. "What was that?"

"Goblin." Hakuba and Conan shared a knowing smile. "It sounded like normal Japanese to you though, did it not?"

Conan nodded. "I didn't know we could do that. I would have been talking behind their back a long time ago."

"You simply have to think on the language and you speak it. It's rather helpful. I wasn't too sure how it worked before now, but I had to assume that's what it was all about when you brought it up."

"Damn. I gotta learn yer elf-y language here?"

"There are enough humans around. I have no clue as to why they weren't speaking normally."

Kaito cleared his throat and pointed off in the direction of the wolf. "So are we following or not?"

"Ah, right." Hakuba waved his hand. "Go on then. I believe me leading would be of little help here. It's no surprise the townsfolk are worried about my presence."

Kaito sighed before jogging a little to catch up to the wolf. They were afraid of Hakuba, a perfectly peaceful person (most of the time), but they didn't care at all when he said their little 'guard dog' was a werewolf.

They ended up stopping at the edges of the forest, near where the water and trees met the land. The wolf turned to them and sat, lifting a paw before placing it on the ground. It repeated the gesture several times.

"Here?" Kaito looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone nearby. "What's here?"

The wolf shook its head, standing before sitting again, repeating the foot motion. Kaito got it.

"You want us to sit here?"

The wolf nodded.

"Hell no." For one it would be hard to get back up. For another, this werewolf's pack could be just on the edges of the forest – good wolf or not.

The wolf stood, repeating the pawing gesture without sitting and he could swear he saw that eye roll again.

"You want us to wait here, I'm assuming."

The wolf nodded.

"Fine. This is weird enough as it is. I've never seen a werewolf change so I was kind of curious, but if you want to go off and do it on your own, where you could be communicating with who knows what in the woods, us the perfect targets, by all means, go right ahead. We _might_ still be here when you get back."

The wolf growled at him, Kaito's hair standing on end as he took a step back. The noise cut off when the creature noticed the reaction. It stomped its paw on the ground a few more times before going off into the woods.

"So, is standing here really the best idea?" Kaito tipped his head to the others. "This decision I'm iffy on."

"I want to know what's going on. He's going to come back and able to talk, so I'm waiting. I don't care what _you_ do." Conan still had his arms folded and Kaito saw the little dragon crawl out, hissing at him to help prove the little guy's point.

"It is injured. I'm sure we could take it on. I noticed while we were walking that the werewolf wasn't moving as well as it should. Conan-kun seems a viable enough defense. I am staying as well."

"I don' care anymore." Hattori shrugged. "Ya guys gotta tell me what they _really_ were talkin' 'bout after though."

"We can speak now. I was worried it was a naturally born werewolf, but if that were the case it should have been able to change rather fast." Kaito looked off into the trees. "Meaning that it's not and can't spread it's werewolfy-ness to us. If there is a pack, they'd be the same. I doubt naturally born werewolves take in their mutant mistakes."

"Kuroba-kun," Hakuba sighed as he shook his head. "You'll have to explain that one to me. I told you I'm a little uncertain on my monster facts."

"It's a game mechanic. Man, don't you guys read _anything_?" Kaito held up one finger on each hand. "Natural born were-people, and yes there's more than wolves, are _born_ with the ability to shape change. They live in their own groups obviously, since they're too animal to be 'human' and too 'human' to be animal. Naturally born ones are the ones you have to watch out for. They have full control over their powers and they can spread their curse to someone they bite." He lifted a few more fingers on that hand.

Moving his finger on his opposite hand, Kaito reiterated once more. "Unnatural were-people are those inflicted with this curse. They don't have full control over it, at least not as well, and cannot spread the curse. Being inflicted with it instead of born with it, they can actually be cured. Since our little friend walked off, odds are they're an afflicted party. I can't see them having much of a pack, though it's very possible that some of the natural born werewolves use those they afflict as soldiers, making it no less dangerous."

"Hm. I see. How could you tell it was a werewolf and not a normal wolf in the forest?" Of course it was Hakuba asking, though it looked like the others were just as curious.

"The eyes. Unlike animals, werewolves' eyes reflect light red and not yellow or white. I don't know why so don't ask. Weird fact to know if you ever run into something like that."

Conan sighed. "Great. All I see is in shades of red. No wonder I didn't notice."

Kaito had to smirk. His own vision was muted but he could see color just fine as long as he was close enough. Hakuba could probably see the world perfectly.

The howling started shortly after, some banging and crashing going on in the forest that made it sound like there was a fight. Kaito raised his hand to stop anyone from moving. "Again, cursed ones don't have full control. It might be dangerous."

The others nodded, the little dragon darting out for Conan's arms and off into the trees. That was one way of keeping track of the werewolf.

Several minutes went by as Kaito shifted uncomfortably, not really liking the fact that the thrashing around meant the werewolf was that unstable. It calmed though, the noise of the night not returning before they all heard footsteps, loud enough that it had to be done purposely.

A blond elf stepped out of the woods, flashing a smile that showed off a few too many pointed teeth for Kaito not to think he'd stand out. The same moon earring dangled off his left ear. The second after he noticed the details he stopped caring, reaching for his daggers in his belt and making sure he was armed.

The elf, though a little less 'petit' looking than he and Hakuba seemed to be as elves, raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not here to fight."

"Amuro-san?" Conan walked over to him, no fear in the world, which just confused the heck out of Kaito.

The last time he had seen this man had been in a very deadly situation with the little guy and he was worried. Sure it was one man but the fact that he was here made even less sense than the fact that the detectives were here. Sure he was a possible enemy of his but Kaito doubted Akako's little sister knew that – that man himself didn't even know that. And why here and not with them? Why here at all? Why… just why?

"I wasn't sure if you were here or not." The man put a hand on his hip, Conan now right in front of him. There were no weapons to reach for at his side, but he doubted there would be if he had just been a wolf. "We have _a lot_ to talk about."


	14. Stranger Friends

**Chapter 14: Stranger Friends**

"First," the blond continued, putting a hand to his shoulder. "No more shooting me. That kind of hurt."

"Sorry." Conan didn't look or sound very sorry but then again that was nothing new. It wasn't like he really knew or it had been his fault. He didn't look all that injured so Kaito didn't care. "So what happened? Why are you here?"

"I had been at the agency. Ran-san had come down to thank me for bringing up a present, which I distinctly remembered not doing. I came to investigate a little further. Of course I was a little weary of the cupcakes she seemed to think had been from me, but they hadn't tasted like I should be running anyone to the hospital, so I figured they were from a client and left, winding up here about an hour after." The man spread one of his hands before him. "I'm assuming that this is some drug-based illusion from that – since nothing else particularly eventful happened to me in that time - but it all feels very real, so I've been at an impasse with myself whether or not it is. Seeing you now, when my mind is clear, leads me to believe it's not. I'd have imagined you up if I were in a more desperate situation earlier on. So I need to ask _you_ what's going on."

Conan shrugged. "I ate a cupcake too. I was there when some girl popped out of no where, claiming this was all because of him." The boy pointed a finger back at him as if Kaito were an offending object now. "She says it's magic and, until proven otherwise, I can only take it as such. We've been trying to either beat the storyline of the game to get out or at least stay alive to have another friend of his, that he is hopeful will notice what's going on, rescue us."

"It's not like we have any other options so stop making me sound like an idiot."

"Right. You're just so clever that you make so many enemies that stuff like this happens." Conan waved his hand more. "Kuroba Kaito. And this is Hakuba Saguru and you met Heiji-niichan."

The man nodded. "Amuro Toru. Don't let the teeth fool you, I don't bite much."

Kaito had to snort at the bad joke, relaxing a bit. "How _did_ you end up here? We were all in the forest quite a distance away."

Amuro shrugged. "It's not only me. Mouri-san and Ran-san were near me when I woke as well after all those configurations the game forced on me. Like this," There was a touch of distain to his words as he touched one of his ears. "I remember being shown lists and forced to pick between options before I could wake, though this 'werewolf' thing seems to be a bug."

Kaito shook his head. "Randomly generated when making a new character. 1:1000 chance. I guess you just got unlucky."

"So we woke already with the races we played." Conan put a hand to his chin. "Ran-neechan never played the game with me, so she never had a character. I doubt you and occhan were ever interested in it, so you didn't either. Having no race I suppose it took longer to mold you into this world. It's possible we just missed you."

"I woke in the forest though this town was close enough to see. Anything's possible." Amuro yawned, covering it. "Sorry, I've been up for a while. I hadn't planned on staying out as late as I did, but I smelled a bunch of others and had to check it out. You and a group of bandits seem to be in the area, so I'm going to go warn the others. Follow me."

"Wait, sir?" Hakuba spoke up, taking a step forward. "I'm sorry, I'm just rather curious. I thought I had most of this game's rules down but you don't seem to have the spell pouch that Conan-kun has and you're wearing no armor and have no weapons. If there is a group of bandits, maybe we should take them on."

The blond laughed. "Don't think too hard on it." He reached into his shirt and pulled out a little spell pouch that was hidden in there. "I had to figure out a way to keep something with me and I noticed, while I can't carry weapons, I do somehow manage to hold onto my clothes. These are leather too, so they work well enough as armor." He lifted his shirt, showing off an intertwining belt around his waist. Pulling at it a little, it came loose, showing off a whip. "Not the strongest weapon but one I'm good with. When I fight I typically keep my teeth and claws as long as the people here don't see me. That and I have this."

It was kind of funny, watching the look Hakuba had on his face when Amuro reached back into his shirt to replace the bag and pulled out a small flute.

"And that does-"

"He's a bard." Kaito raised an eyebrow. If there were one class he would never, ever pick to be unless he had a large group, it was a bard. They were terrible fighters on their own or even in smaller groups from what he noticed. "I suppose being able to turn into a wolf has helped with some of the disadvantages of that. Maybe you were _lucky_ instead of unlucky."

"No." The blond smiled but it wasn't real, Kaito noticing when he looked up that he had bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. "Not lucky. I wish I had known what I was doing when I made some of my decisions but I based them on assets and not on the fact that I would have to be living with them. In any case, the bandits weren't much further off than you were, and I am hurt, so maybe it's a better idea that I stay back. You all know how to fight I take it?"

"Duh."

"Hurry up then. I'm sure the other two could take them on even without me, but there's likely not time and I am kind of interested. If you can't take on some bandits, I'd be worried."

"Might as well, if they're headed this way anyway. I doubt the people here like us much." Kaito put his hands behind his head, feeling very put off once more. There was something about this guy that was just… wrong. He didn't like it. "What's wrong with you?"

"Mmm, you'll have to be more specific than that. I'm not sure what you mean." The blond took off, clearly trying to get to the edge of town and not running away from the question so Kaito continued as the rest of them ran off with him.

"You look sick or tired. I didn't think that came with being a werewolf. And the city here, some of them have to have guessed what you are. I even said it aloud. They don't seem to care. Why?"

"Ah, that. I suppose that would be the history this game gave me. Apparently if I'm alone people are far more friendly with me than normal, so I try and stay in one form around them and, since I can spot danger first, I've been testing out my abilities here for the last week or so."

"I don't remember a background like that aside from his," Kaito pointed to Conan. "And a folk hero doesn't typically out you from the group like that."

"I choose 'haunted one.'"

Kaito winced. "Ouch."

"Yeah, but it's not all bad. I just get tired more than usual now and then when I have issues going to sleep – or staying asleep." He turned back and smiled as he walked. "I'm actually not that great off right now, which is why I won't be fighting."

"Well be fine. Its just bandits, right?"

Amuro nodded. "I'd say half a dozen or so, no more than ten. It's hard to tell when I had to keep my distance. I'm not as good sneaking around when I'm tired."

"We've been there, done that."

"Can I ask one more thing?" Hakuba was at his side, where he was behind Amuro, Conan stepping up his game and walking besides the man even as his legs were shorter. "Do you know if they're human?"

"No, they're elves. We haven't been getting a lot of human attackers. These bandits are good at hiding in the trees, so it's been hard to get rid of them permanently."

"They were also saying something about a monster."

"We tried taking that on. It… it didn't end well. If you all want to help it should be simple enough. I tend to be a liability in battle."

Kaito winced again, repeating himself. "Ouch."

"Yeah. It hurt me more than it hurt them but I can't say it was pleasant."

"Hm?" Hakuba looked between them. "What?"

"Werewolves as party members are incredibly risky because of one big, obvious fact. If they get hurt enough, they lose it. Like, they go crazy while they're hurt and bleeding all over and just attack everyone."

"It wasn't quiet that bad but yes, that's more or less what happened."

"You're an upfront fighter too." Kaito didn't make it a question. Bards weren't meant to be close range. They were singers, good with a bow, good at speaking. Nothing about them made them good on the front lines."

"Yes, though not like this. Being in an in-between wolf form makes casting spells hard, though I do more damage. It all depends on the situation but no, I'm not typically in the back. Mouri-san has my sword. It's hard for me to keep it on me."

"Ouch, ouch, and ouch. So, what level are you guys?" Their little group of four had just barely made it to level three, though to be fair, they had been detained for a few days.

"Four, but only just. The bandits have helped a lot with that, though that monster in the ocean was far more than a match for a us a few days ago."

Now Kaito felt bad. "Four? With just the three of you and a _werewolf_ to deal with, you're all _a higher_ level than us?"

"I suppose so if that's how it is. Maybe I'm just a better tactician than you take me for." Amuro touched his nose. "I'm the leader of our group, so what I say goes. I may not know what's going on, but I pick up on things fast."

Kaito wanted to say he was the leader but really, they barely turned to him. When they did they never took his advice. Hakuba and Hattori working together were far better than them as a team, and even adding the two it was hard to get along. "We don't have a leader I guess."

"That makes battles a little harder. If you can't agree on how to move, you'll contradict each other all the time." Amuro clapped his hands together. "For this fight I'm you're leader. Tell me, Kuroba-kun, right? Do you use that bow much?"

"No." Kaito really didn't. He knew he could but he did way more damage up front with Hattori. "Why?"

"Because, while I don't like using a bow, I can, and my own crossbows are back at the inn we're staying at. I wouldn't mind the whip but I can do more damage and over a distance with your weapon."

Kaito got it off his back, handing it and his arrows over. He really didn't need them, especially against bandits. "Have at it."

"Thank you." The man just threw the bow over one shoulder and reached for his flute again, looking around as he reached the edge of town. "I don't have much time for this. Which of you all will be doing the most damage?"

"I lost a spell so I'm only good for another few hits but-"

"Not him." The little guy missed way too much and when he didn't, he always put himself in far too much danger. "Hattori-kun can't see in the dark but we can light something so him and Hakuba-kun for sure. How many can you spell?" Kaito didn't know about bards much, but their spells were made to affect more than one party member.

"Three, but you can't do anything with this power until I say, alright?" Amuro looked between them. "Who's being left out?"

"Just ferget me. There's gonna be too much arguin'." Hattori waved his hands at the others. "Gettin' kinda sick 'a it. I kin handle myself fine without whatever yer little trick is."

"Alright. Just stand there and enjoy the music then. I wish I had more than my flute but I can't carry the others." He put it to his lips and played.

It was quiet, nice, and calming. For some reason, instead of making him feel tired like he thought it might, Kaito was almost trapped in the music. He could have moved, he was sure, if he wanted to. But he didn't want to. Game or not he had never heard such quiet, peaceful, almost painful music before, and he was sure he had _never_ heard it in the game.

"Okay, follow me and keep quiet if you can. Tell me about your abilities in less than 20 words." Amuro stopped, making Kaito sad that he had, taking off back down the street and into the forest. Kaito took care to make sure his own footsteps were as quiet as possible as he followed, Hattori doing the smart thing and staying behind him while Hakuba was at his side and Conan – being the stupid little squishy wizard who never listened, followed in front.

Kaito wasn't sure about going back into the forest before dawn with Hattori. It wouldn't be far off now. The bandits there would strike before the light came out though.

Hakuba splintered off almost as quietly as a breeze, hiding behind the trees as they went. Conan stayed beside the blond, Hattori staying back with him, though Kaito was thinking about hiding among the trees as well. He had no bow so that would be pointless.

It was dark, and he could have been wrong, but the blond man's steps were far too loud to his sensitive ears and, looking closely, he could swear that the man's hand was shaking subtly as he moved.

Either coming to the conclusion that there was no way he could walk quietly through the forest or simply giving up on the fact, Amuro stopped, sighing, and put a hand to his head. "Well, that's pointless. Even like this you all stink. There's no point in hiding."

Kaito thought he was talking about them before another elf calmly walked out from behind a tree. He was clothed in some weird garments that none of the others had worn – lots of bright colors and tassels, not something ideal for going through the forest with, yet there was no mud on them. Gold bracelets pressed tight against the elf's dark wrists and he probably would have twinkled had there been sunlight with all the necklaces and earrings he was wearing. Dark hair tied back, he looked like something out of India.

"You again, huh? You're really bothersome, do you know that?"

Amuro smirked. "I can say the same, Lord Bravira. I'm kind of surprised you stuck around."

The elf looked over Conan-kun, a smirk of his own on his face. "You made this visit a little more interesting. What happened to your other friends? Did some of mine take them out?"

"If you want to think that, you can."

The elf never once looked in Kaito's direction so he backed up slowly, hiding himself better in the shadows. No one said a thing about his retreat aside from Hattori being close enough to him to notice and thankfully keeping quiet about it.

"Are we going to make this a fight again? You lost last time, you'll lose again."

"Possibly," the elf admitted. "Or possibly these friends of yours are not a powerful as the last. I'm unsure where scions stand in that matter, but it's worth a shot to find out." Snapping his fingers, Kaito could almost hear arrows being knocked as several other elves made themselves visible among the trees.

The other bandits that Kaito could see wore hoods over their faces, making their race hard to tell and their eyes impossible to see. The elf before him wasn't as hard, running up to Amuro who did his best to dance away from the blades, the smaller one getting him somewhere Kaito couldn't see – the blood on the other hand wasn't as hard.

"Someone's not feeling too good tonight, are you mongrel?"

Amuro didn't care to answer, speaking some words to a spell Kaito was unfamiliar with, quickly wishing he wasn't as he had the urge to block his ears.

It was like a siren went off in front of him and he wasn't all that surprised when one of the bandits fell, clutching his ears and blood running between his hands. The elf winced at the sound, rubbing one of his ears when the noise vanished. "Damn it, you're loud."

Amuro smiled kindly. "Well, it is better to let everyone know where you are. Do you still plan on fighting?"

The elf scowled, looking around before grinning again. "We'll have this done before anyone gets here."

Hattori was still behind the blond and moved besides him to get a better angle in this fight. It wasn't like this was their first time or anything, though what happened was rather strange.

Hattori got in a good hit, slipping through the elf's armor, pushing Amuro as he did, growling out for him to back up – the man actually listening as if he had to – the elf before them not having a chance to get at the blond again. Now closer to Kaito himself and out of the other elf's range, the little fire wizard attacked.

Sure Kaito would have advised him to move back instead, so that Hattori was the closest and he could step in when he got the chance, but Conan never listened to him.

The weird sparkly ball of energy hit the elf, making him cough of blood, worry staring to paint his features but it was far too late for that. Kaito ran up to him, unseen, and slashed his sword at him, ruining his fancy clothes, missing with his dagger as the elf stepped back, Hakuba's arrow hitting the elf in the side and making him notice the both of them for the first time.

An arrow from one of the tress hit the little guy in the arm, a yelp coming form him as the boy turned, fire flickering around his body, and – scary enough – his attacker bursting into flames. Whether he was dead or not, Kaito wasn't sure, but that had to be a horrible way to go either way.

"So." Amuro put his hands on his hips, the elf before them bleeding all over the ground and breathing heavily. "Are you sure you want to stick around?"

"Damn you." Baring his teeth, the elf turned. Any of them could have struck him but no one did. Kaito didn't really feel like seeing more blood today. "This isn't over, you filth."

"Until next time then."

They all waited, a few others moving from the tress that Kaito hadn't seen earlier. He wasn't sure how many were left as they waited a few minutes for the group to move on.

Amuro let out a breath first, wiping a hand at his side. "Being a wolf is simpler. I don't usually go into battle with so little. You guys weren't bad. Conan-kun, did you _cook_ that guy though?"

"Sorry. I might have." The little guy looked authentically worried when he stared over at the man who turned out to be an elf, most of his clothes burned and his face an ashen-charcoal color. "It just sort of happened."

"Let me see." Hakuba stepped over, crossing the darkness and checking the body over. Kaito had to wonder if they had pluses and breath the way normal heath was determined. He had never actually cared much to get that close to one of the inhabitants of the world, now that he thought about it.

"Yes, he's dead." Hakuba stood, shaking his head. "Not likely the first bandit that we've killed. I am sorry about that as well. Sometimes it is hard."

Amuro sighed. "Yes, but now we're going to have some issues with Bravira. It'll be fine though. It was an accident." The man put a hand on Conan-kun's head. "Come on. The others probably heard that and we don't want them to get lost in the forest now, do we?"

"Speak for yourself. I can see just fine," said a voice most definitely _not_ coming from one of the group.

Everything in Kaito's body just _hurt_ for some reason – a mix of fear and too much tension in so short a time. He turned to the voice, the speaker crossing their arms, robes of a dark red that blended well with the night. There were curved _horns_ on his head and if not for the stark black hair and mustache in the totally clashing style not at all matching the new appendages – and a _lizard looking tail_ – to go with the red skin, Kaito _never_ would have figured out how he was.

"Mouri-san, you know better than to go sneaking around." Amuro didn't look startled at all when he said this though, smiling and tipping his head.

Kaito almost missed the much smaller person behind the new, demonized, sleeping detective. By elimination it had to be Ran, but the person there only shared her hairstyle – like Mouri.

They were short, as short as Conan, with pointed ears. Unlike Mouri who wore only robes and Amuro who wore only leather clothing, Ran was wearing a thick shirt with large, folded collar and metal armor of some sort poking out from underneath with a lot of pouches hidden in the folds of the cloth.

"Ran-neechan?" Conan took a few steps towards her, looking her over as if she were a new species of animal. She kind of was.

"Conan-kun!" Ran wasn't as hesitant, running forward and hugging the little guy, pushing him back hard enough that he tripped and his dragon squeaked from wherever it was hiding, flying off. "Oh it's so good to see you!"

Kaito had to hid a laugh behind his hand. Looking them over, both being relatively the same size and him knowing that they _should_ be, made the scene look rather cute. Better than when he'd last seen them together in any case. The little guy was going to have fun with this.

"What's the brat doing here?"

"I don't know. We haven't had time to talk. We'll have more than enough right now, though we should hurry." Amuro tipped his head over his shoulder. "They have a causality on their side. They'll be back for that. I really need some rest myself. Together we should be fine, so we don't need to get the city dwellers involved again."

"Yeah, fine." Mouri looked over the others. Clearly he recognized Hattori but that would be about it. "And the other new guys?"

"We met before. Hakuba Saguru." Hakuba bowed slightly to him. "I'm not sure if you remember. This is a classmate of mine, Kuroba Kaito. It is not such a long story as to why we are here but it is one we don't fully understand either."

"Conan-kun, don't move." Ran shifted, noticing the arrow the little guy still had in his arm from earlier, singed with black as well. It came out easily enough with a little wince of pain, her hand going to the wound and glowing slightly. When she removed it the wound was gone.

Standing with a smile, Ran turned toward Amuro. "Amuro-san, come here too."

"Thank you." Amuro went to a knee in front of her as she placed his hand on his side as well, more light and another wound gone. "That should be fine for now. Come on, we all do need to talk."

Conan nodded, leading the way again with the others, Ran looking him over as much as he was looking her over, though Conan's was subtler – at least, a little. It was clear they were happy to see one another, even in this world.

Kaito wasn't sure how he would feel about Aoko being here and hoped she wasn't, alone somewhere and separated like this group seemed to be. She could be considered an enemy of his – and of Akako's – if she wanted to be.

"You look worried." Hakuba walked over to his side, tipping his head. "There are more of us now, in a larger town and less danger. I would think you would be happy."

"Betcha it's 'cause ya ain't so special anymore, ain't it?" Hattori was behind them, clearly using them so he didn't stray off the path in the dark. "Now that there's a bunch'a us and they seem ta know what they're doin', we don't gotta go around askin' you no more."

"That isn't the issue." Kaito tipped his head. " _They_ have no good reason to be here. Maybe one of them, by the standards that our little messed up witch is running with, but only one."

"Yeah, ya know, I still never got that. Every time I go ta ask one of ya, ya just kinda ignore me even though ya seem to know why we're here."

" _You_ are here on accident, if you remember." Kaito didn't feel like justifying anything to Hattori. It wasn't like it was his fault, even though it kind of was. There was no good way of going around who he was in that explanation either, which was why he never gave one and… it seemed the little guy and Hakuba hadn't either. That was kind of nice on their parts.

"To be honest, a classmate of ours has powers. I didn't wholly believe in them, even after seeing a few enacted around me, but it seems true nonetheless. Kuroba-kun has a way of ticking people off and it seems this became of it. Conan-kun and I know him, and he is rather an annoyance of ours as well, so we were brought here more or less to become one in return. Obviously when it matters we're not about to do that, but our little harasser is nothing more than a child, so it isn't as if they would predict that. We _could_ have left Kuroba-kun in the woods alone if we had wanted." Hakuba smiled to him. "But then again, he is a classmate, and he does know more than we do still. You know, you have been a lot of trouble since we've gotten here."

"Duh." Kaito waved a hand Conan's direction. "I was alone with him. You saw how that went."

A flicker of a frown went across Hakuba's face before he nodded. "In any case, you're right. If she were simply trying to get Conan-kun, and the boy did admit that Hattori-kun was a mistake, then the others don't make much sense."

Kaito nodded. "That's making me worried. How many others are here? And if you're here… is Aoko?"

"I hadn't thought of that. She would be, considering the criteria."

"Ah." Kaito used both his hands, scratching at his light hair and messing it more. "I don't even want to think about that. If she's here, where is she? Why wasn't she with us? And why were they all the way over near this city while we weren't? I can kind of see why having to create a character from scratch would have taken a while, and we did move a little, but… I don't know."

"Aoko-kun then might be alone somewhere. That's what you're worried about."

Kaito nodded, knowing Hakuba, even as annoying as he was in return, did care about Aoko's safety. "I can't leave, not if she's here somewhere."

"We can't stay either. There's-"

"This girl yer lookin' fer. I'm guessin' it's someone ya like 'er somethin', if yer that scared 'a leaving her here. Aren't there like, spells ta find people in this game though?"

Kaito nodded. "We have none of them."

"It's a big city. Maybe someone here kin do it."

That wasn't a bad idea. Kaito felt the tension refuse to leave his body though. So much more wasn't making sense, unless of course Akako's sister simply involved the other three trying to get Conan-kun. He and Hakuba were the ideal targets. His mind kept swimming with thoughts of Aoko though, even as they returned to town and dawn was breaking, the lights fading a bit as it did.

' _Damn it, Aoko. You'd better be safe'_ was all he could think.

…

Conan had known she was here when Amuro had first mentioned it. So much had been going on though, and the threat of the bandits had taken Amuro's attention away from them, that he hadn't been able to ask much.

Now she was before him, her eyes bright as she smiled, hands behind her back, and walking the same height as he was. It was a bit disturbing at the same time it made him smile, shifting the fake glasses better on his face.

"Cute pet."

"Thanks." Conan still had his hood down and Hirai had returned after he explained to the little guy that he hadn't meant to get him squished. Petting his head, the dragon let Ran stroke him too, touching his wings and putting up with far more than the little guy likely had to. He was in her arms in no time and half asleep. "Have you been… okay?"

"Mm." Ran nodded with a smile. "Amuro-san read all the rules when we started and gave us a lot of pointers. He kept saying he thought it was some kind of weird dream and we weren't real though. It was a little strange but interesting too." She reached into a bag at her side with the hand she wasn't holding the dragon with, pulling out a box that she flipped open. A song of a slightly higher pitch and a soothing tone came out of it. It kind of reminded him of the one Amuro had played earlier. "I can make stuff like this now, even though I know I had no idea how to make a music box before. It's kind of fun."

"Fun…" Not a word Conan would have used to describe all this. Maybe he'd been looking at it the wrong way though. "I suppose it could be. What about your dad?"

"He's just as grumpy as usual." Ran shook her head. "I don't know how he can be. Everything around here is so strange and exciting. I mean, some of the fights are a little scary, but Amuro-san is really good at fighting and I can heal when we get hurt most of the time." Her face creased with worry as she looked ahead at the blond who was speaking with Mouri. " _Most of the time. He won't let me make him better. Apparently there are cures for the werewolf curse, but he won't let me try. He gets hurt a lot more than we do and I feel bad when we have to hurt him."_

"Hurt him?"

" _Mm_." Ran nodded again. " _He kind of… goes crazy some of the time, and we have to stop him. He's better when he wakes up after, and of course he doesn't remember what happens when he's like that, but I still feel bad_."

"Yeah. We didn't know a lot. I think I might have killed a few of the bad guys here." Conan was trouble about that, but not much. Theses people seemed real but they couldn't be. If they were currently imposing on another world it might get him to trudge up enough regret to feel badly for a while, but this was a game. A world, a real world, that resembled as close to a game as this one did, seemed highly unlikely. "None of us can really heal."

"Are you hurt somewhere else?" Ran looked him over but his clothes hid his wounds that he'd gotten with Kuroba, so she couldn't see them.

"Not anymore, but sometimes it leaves marks." Conan did have a few on his arm and all he had to do was lift his sleeve to show the cut. There weren't many, not nearly as much as Kuroba had, but he did have a few. "We weren't exactly sure why but had to guess we get scars when we're exhausted."

"That would make sense. There's more than a few Amuro-san has that I can't make go away, and my dad and me don't have them. I didn't really get why. I thought it was because he's a werewolf." That clicked something in her mind and she touched the blond man on the back. "Hey, did that leave a mark?"

"Hm?" Amuro turned towards her, lifting his shirt a bit where it had been cut. There was a small mark there where the dagger had gotten him, even though the wound was closed. Conan didn't miss a few others he had along his midsection. "Looks like it. Don't worry though, it doesn't hurt."

"No, but Conan-kun just explained to me _why_ I can't heal you all the way." She folded her arms and stopped. "You never came back last night. Did you sleep? You were on watch the night before and helped me with the music box yesterday before we started scouting the shore."

Amuro's smile was kind but his eyes were half closed after he blinked. "No, I ran into them rather early and didn't get time to sleep. I had trouble the night before. I think I should try using your music box myself, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Here." She handed it over. "Just let me fix it up some time after you sleep so that it won't break again."

"I can do that." He held it, looking at the other two. "What about the both are you? I wasn't sure if I interrupted your sleep or not."

"Hmph, we were. Ran heard you and woke me. We'll just go back to sleep. Kids here seem to need it anyway."

"I'm sorry, but where are you all staying?" Hakuba still had some time before the sun was blinding but Kaito saw him pulling at the cloak again. "We don't have that much in way of currency so a few of us have been camping. With the bandits out there, and in your own words seeking repentance, I don't think we should stay there today."

"We can cover a few rooms for you." Amuro looked them over. "You fought bandits yourself, right? Didn't you pick up enough currency to at least get by?"

Kaito tugged at his weapon and nodded to the bow of his that the blond still had on his back, Conan looking between them and realizing that Amuro had never given it back. "We went with weapons over lodging, and Conan-kun doesn't need any money to stay in a room."

Amuro shared a smile with him. "I don't either. It's been helpful as far as money is concerned. Being the town's 'watch dog' also has its perks. I never have to pay for food."

Conan smiled and tipped his head to Hakuba. "We've had a hunter so we haven't had to worry about that either. We've actually fought a lot more monsters than we have bandits."

"Well, we're not short on those around here." Amuro yawned, turning and looking at the sun. "I'll sleep with the two of you tonight. Here, I won't need this as a wolf, but please don't spend it all at once." Taking a pouch from his side, Amuro handed him what had to be the coins he had on him. "Well talk in the morning, how about that?"

"I don't mind."

"Conan-kun can stay with us then. I'm sure they won't mind. We can even share a bed." Ran happily grabbed his hand, making him blush and Conan hoping she didn't notice. "They're full sized so it's more than big enough."

Ignoring the snickering behind him and knowing who it was coming from, Conan nodded. He handed the pouch back, Hattori reaching over and grabbing it.

"We'll see ya guys in the mornin' then. Have fun."

There was more snickering, this time a second voice with it, as the others watched off, the two adults watching them.

"I'm sure they know where there's an inn but did they not want to stay with us?" Amuro pointed behind himself, still facing Conan. "We're not that far away."

"It's fine. Maybe they don't want us all to be in the same place if something happens. We've been split up before so I think it's stupid but…" Conan shrugged. It wasn't like he could control them… or he didn't want to in any case. He wasn't sure what the repercussions of that would be.

Amuro yawned again, his eyes falling closed. "You can all get settled then. I'll be right back. Leave the door open so I don't accidentally leave scratch marks this time."

Ran nodded, her dad huffing before the blond walked off, likely going somewhere to change. If it was as painful as it sounded, Conan could feel for him. It wasn't best to do that in public either, if the city wasn't sure he was really a werewolf.

"Does he always turn into a wolf?" It had to be impossible to speak or use spells that way.

"Only when we're in town. A lot of the elves here don't like him for some reason. He seems to know why but he won't tell us. They were speaking some weird language with him when we first arrived and, ever since, he's been walking around as a wolf when he can. He changes when we know we're going to fight, but he doesn't always have the time."

"Hm. I wonder why." Conan would have to ask him, and if he wouldn't answer, Kuroba seemed to know a lot of weird facts that had nothing to do with fighting.

They walked up to the room, Mouri closing the door like he was told not to before turning to him and looking frightening. The demon features made his normal scowl look evil. "Kid, we have to talk real fast. I don't blame your friends for walking off, and I doubt they even know the half of it. Ran," he held the door back open. "Stand watch for me real fast?"

Ran nodded, doing as she was told without questioning why. She did smile and pat his shoulder before vanishing on the other side though.

Mouri waited a second after the door clicked shut before turning back to him. "Amuro-san's got something wrong with his head. He still thinks this is all some kind of delusion of his. He's helpful, sure, but he's damn near fatal with that attitude of his. Guy barely sleeps, which probably makes him even crazier. Has nightmares all the time so don't freak out if you hear him. Ran usually muzzles him, which is just freaking sad, but there's nothing we can do about it. Don't listen to him. We have a voting system we agreed on so the guy can't go off and get himself killed if Ran and I don't agree with him on something. He's still okay, for now, but I have to say, watch out. Tell the others too, in private. We don't want to make him even crazier by making him think we're talking behind his back."

That was what they _were_ doing but Conan wasn't going to bring that up. Amuro hadn't seemed all that strange when they'd been with him earlier. He fought the same way they all had. "You sure?"

"Damn sure. Ran noticed right away too. We've been with him for about a month now. It's hard not to. Being a wolf he's a little calmer. I'm not sure why."

Animal intelligence. It would make him slower, more- "I'll watch out. Thanks."

"Sure." Mouri opened the door, letting Ran back in and not closing it all the way this time. "When the guy's not dead on his feet he's near impossible to notice, so _make sure_."

That was the last he said as Mouri took one of the beds, falling onto it before closing his eyes and turning away from them, seemingly going to sleep.

Conan turned to Ran, his voice low. " _Are you afraid of Amuro-san too?"_

She moved, uncertain. " _I don't know. Yes and no. He cares about us, he doesn't go rushing us off into danger, but he goes out alone all the time and it's like he has voices in his head. With us, he's fine. If he's not a wolf and spends too much time alone… yes, I'm afraid of him then."_

" _Well, there's seven of us now. There's no reason he should have to be alone_." Conan looked from Ran to the bed and back to Ran and back to the bed, his head bowed and a blush back on his face.

Maybe he should have gone with the others. He'd never be able to get any sleep tonight.


	15. No One Mourns the Wicked

**Chapter 15: No One Mourns the Wicked**

Conan knew Amuro was there when he had gone to sleep, Ran starting her little music box and tying a cloth around his mouth in wolf form like Mouri was saying she did. Amuro didn't seem to mind, going right to sleep.

Conan didn't know why he wasn't still asleep when he woke the next morning, wondering if it was because he was an elf. Kuroba and Hakuba didn't need much sleep either.

Ran shifted next to him and his attention was drawn to her, his face hot as he slowly tried to get out of bed without bothering her. It didn't work, Ran blinking and smiling. "Morning, Conan-kun."

"Morning." Conan stayed on the edge of the bed, shifting a bit in his already dirty clothes. The others hadn't changed last night either, and he was starting to realize that he wasn't okay being dirty around a girl.

"Mmm." She rubbed her eyes, Conan noticing that they weren't a different color than her real ones. He wasn't too sure about his own. Any refection he saw of himself was predominantly bright red, so something as simple as his own eye color hasn't seemed important. Hattori was the only one, now that he thought about it, that wasn't predominantly one color – taking into account mostly skin, hair, and eye color. Kuroba did like to wear a lot of dark colors that clashed poorly with his features.

Conan's stomach growled before they could have any real conversation, making both of them laugh.

"Did you eat recently?"

"Um, yeah. Kind of. We had lunch but it was mostly dried food. I think we all forgot to eat last night." He smiled, not used to her being so close to him. Now that they were the same height there was no real distance. He had to thank luck that his glasses hadn't been taken, or broken in a fight, or anything else in this crazy world that could have happened to them.

"Let's go get some breakfast then. The inn doesn't serve anything but there's a small shop down the street that has the basics. If you're running short I don't mind paying for you." Ran's smile was almost too bright. "I'm just so happy it's more than just Amuro-san and dad here. I'm not exactly a child anymore but it hasn't been the most fun being the youngest."

Conan never had issues being a child among 'adults' but he wasn't about to bring that up, only nodding. "I'm glad there's more than just us here too. Lead the way."

Amuro showed up faster than he would have expected. He was a wolf still, minus the muzzle, and was sleeping beside the desk to sign into the inn. Conan got a better look at his blue earrings, knowing Amuro never wore those in the real world. One was kind of hard to see, hiding in the fur near his ear, the other dangled with a moon charm he had caught a glimpse of last night, though he had thought they were red. He could never trust his color judgment at night. "Why is he wearing earrings?"

"Oh, that was his idea. It was so no one would think he was a normal wolf. They've had to fight off a few that come too close to town, scavenging for food. I haven't seen any the same color as Amuro-san, but I can understand why he did it. It makes people pause when they first see him too, knowing not to attack him. Apparently it's not all that uncommon to have pets like wolves." Ran reached over, petting Hirai's head where he was resting across his shoulders like always. "Or dragons."

"Should we wake him up to eat?" Amuro was an elf. The other two teens were doing who knew what, having had to get less sleep then them. At least Hakuba could watch Kuroba to an extent. He didn't know what the teen could get into here, but he was first and foremost, and untrustworthy ally. He wouldn't call him an enemy, but he wouldn't call him a friend.

"No, he needs the sleep. The innkeeper will likely feed him anyway. Come on." Ran grabbed his hand and they went to get breakfast. It made him smile at the thought of Amuro being treated like a dog before blushing at how very close Ran was to his person. Her arm was so much shorter now…

"Mmm, Ran-neechan." Conan pulled back a little, not enough to do much other than slow her a fraction of a decimal slower, but she noticed. "I need to go buy some new clothes real quickly. I- these are really old." He tugged at his robes, knowing they weren't old at all but were likely stained with mud, blood, and who knew what else. He hadn't bought new clothes since his last set had gotten torn to shreds.

"Ah, I can buy them for you. You all don't have a lot of money, right? Here, just in case…" Ran dug into a pouch at her side, bringing out a handful of gold coins mixed with a few silver and filling his hands with them. "Who knows, something might come up and we have more than enough between us."

"Thank you." Conan struggled to put the coins in his own pouch without dropping any. "While we're in this town, is there a way I can make money on my own?"

Ran blinked at him a few times, tilting her head a bit. "While we're here? Are we going somewhere?"

"Ah, I don't know." Conan held up his hands, shrugging. Really, maybe there was no need to go anywhere. They were a bigger group so there would be less danger, but this was a known town with no issues aside from a small bandit problem. Whatever that dragon was the other town had, it didn't seem to be bothering this one. "I guess not. That had been our plan, to finish this game and all, because we think that might be how we get out. The only thing is I have no idea how we're supposed to finish it, and Kuroba-niisan, the fair elf you saw before, is the only one who really knows anything – and by 'anything' I mean not much. He says a lot of things were changed."

"Barely. I don't remember meeting him before. Hakuba-kun – and wow, I didn't remember him at all for a while. I knew I heard his name but it took a while. I feel so bad. I didn't really say hi. Well, he said he was a classmate, so I don't think I did meet Kuroba-kun before."

"You haven't, not really. I barely met him. He would have been useful if this was still the same game, but it's not. I think we've more or less got everything figured out. After talking with him though, we had thought it was better to try and finish the game. It's not like we have a time limit, and this all might vanish around us at any second anyway if it all just ends." Someone was obviously behind it. For all he knew this would be the last day he'd have to live here.

"You wanted new clothes, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Here." Amuro had given him his pouch of money the other day to hold onto, and Conan really didn't need it now that he had borrowed from Ran. "You should probably hold onto this. I don't want to touch the wrong pouch."

"I don't think he'd care any more than I do, but okay." Ran started walking, her hands behind her back, now empty of any weapon, and Conan had to marvel at how at ease she looked walking through the streets with no way to defend herself. It was so much different than how the other two had felt.

Of course, he regretted her not having it long after.

He followed Ran to where the clothing store would be, finding booths lined with food – obviously some type of bizarre that the city had set up. Next to one of the first they came across was Kuroba, who Conan hadn't been worried about, laying unconscious and bleeding on the ground.

"Damn it." Conan really wasn't in much of a hurry, his mind telling him he didn't have to rush to the teen's aid like he would in real life, but past experiences overrode reason and he was there, checking his pulse and breathing. He seemed out of it, a few too many cuts around his stomach to look healthy, but alive.

"What happened?" Ran came over, looking around for an attacker.

The others, mostly elves, were wandering around the city. All were avoiding looking at them… and some were smiling, which made the scene all the more disturbing.

When Ran was sure there was no obvious danger coming at them she knelt down beside him and put her hands on Kuroba. "I don't know what happened, but I won't be able to heal again after this."

Conan nodded. The fact that she could heal at all and was obviously a fighter was amazing. "It's fine." Kuroba could at least tell them what happened. Kid, in a fantasy world, had no _reason_ to get in trouble.

Kuroba made a noise in his throat, blinking as his wounds disappeared under Ran's touch. Both of them backed up, giving the other room to sit up without feeling too crowded and get his senses back together.

"What happened?" Conan wasn't going to wait long for an answer though, knowing that _anything, literally anything,_ could have happened.

"Ah!" Kuroba's eyes were wide and he quickly looked around, getting to his feet. "Damn it! What'd you do with him!?"

One of the elves, a female with a child, pulled a hood up on her head and snickered behind it. Conan took a step back when the very irate thief went to draw a weapon, both of them taking a second to notice he had none to use.

"Bastards!" Kuroba turned to him, running his hands inside his coat until he came out with the dagger that Conan barely ever touched, waving it around in as threatening a manner as he could with such a small blade. "Where is he and what was all that for?!"

"Calm down." It was a human, not as tall as most of the others around them, that put his hands up and walked towards them, the others slowly making space and ignoring them as if some weren't screaming in the middle of town. "I'm sorry. This happens from time to time. We're not… we have our ways here. I'm sorry you got caught up in it but when you leave, trust me, it'll be no different than when you arrived."

"You took my friend," Kuroba growled out, "And tried to kill me, offering me no reason why, so what reason should I have to believe you?"

"Because I'm probably the only one around that can both give you answers and willingly talk with you. I have no reason to lie." The man, somewhere in his early adult years with dark hair and darker eyes, tipped his head. "Come. I'll explain."

Kuroba lowered the dagger a bit, but only enough to state that he wasn't going for the throat. He turned to the both of them, confused and angry. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." Ran's voice sounded almost more worried than Kuroba's did. "I… I can't even guess. I noticed there were a few fights around town but nothing more than that. Who's missing?"

"Hakuba-kun." Kuroba's eyes narrowed slightly, going back to the man who's back was currently to them, even though his eyes weren't. " _And I think I'm beginning to understand why the reluctant werewolf would rather walk around furry and mute_." Though he slid the dagger in the sheath where his previous one had been he kept his hand on it as he followed the man, Conan hurrying along with Ran as he side as he wondered what the heck was going on and what they wanted with Hakuba.

The four found themselves around a dinner table inside the man's house. It wasn't large, made more to fit the space than to be in a space of it's own, but none of them really cared about the cramped environment.

"So," Kuroba practically growled. "There's some weird things here when it comes to elves, isn't there?"

The man nodded, sitting apart from the group and still smiling. "A human runs this town, though a lot of elves from the forest have made their way here, either due to the fact that we're a more prospering town, the growing number of bandits and monsters, or simple to do so. Most of us weren't too fond of this, you see, and there came to a bit of an understanding. Humans and elves here aren't allowed to mix. It's the best way to keep the peace and when something threatens that peace, the elves usually take care of it before it comes to our attention."

"Hakuba-kun couldn't possibly look more like the dark elf that he is and I'm _very_ sure he wouldn't go starting a fight or hitting on any of the girls here. So why mess with us?" The growl was there again, hidden behind confusion.

"He's strange. Those of us that know of dark elves know that they cannot be trusted. To keep from anything happening, I suppose the elves decided that it was better to keep him under their watch. Since he hadn't done anything, if I believe you, they should return him to you when you leave. I don't see anything the matter with that arrangement and you shouldn't either."

"You _took_ our friend and _attacked_ me. What should I not see wrong with that situation?!"

The man looked Kuroba, who was getting so angry that sitting seemed to be difficult, tipping his head a bit after he was through. "You look very untrustworthy yourself and you're obviously some mix of your own, even if you're not human. I'm half surprised that didn't take you as well."

"I'm _pure_ ," Kuroba practically spit the word. "Strange but any elf here would know what I am." The thief let out a mote of tension as he sighed, rubbing his fingers across his face. "Fine. We're leaving. I'm leaving anyway and I'm taking Hakuba-kun with me. We just wanted a boat. At this point this place is so strange I'd rather go back to the other town or camp in the forest if we're not ready to head out yet. Can I get him back now?"

"Pack up your things and I'm sure you'll be able to talk with someone on your way out. I live here but I don't make the rules. That would be how I'd tell you to go about getting him back though."

"Fine." Kuroba stared down at him and Ran. "Stay if you want. I know the bed and company must be nice. There's no way in hell your friend didn't know about this though, and I'm not letting it slide. If he was worried enough that he's carrying on with things as they are, he knows, and he doesn't _care_."

"Wait." Conan held up his hands, Kuroba getting far too worked up again. "Let's just talk. Once we're done, we'll go about getting Hakuba-kun back. I'm as sure as you are that he didn't do anything to anger anyone here except possibly fight back and I doubt they'd fault him for that. Can you wait until we know for sure what we're doing and have plans laid out before striking off on your own?"

Kuroba didn't look like he was willing to give him even that. It took a full minute before the thief sighed, closing his cloak up to hide the dagger and his hand falling from it as he walked back out the door. "Fine. I have to go see if I can't hunt down whoever took my stuff anyway. I don't have the money to replace it and, for _stealing_ from me, the thief can't fault me for my actions."

"Can you just wait?"

But there was no more waiting. The door closed with bang as the thief left out of it, leaving the rest of them in an uncomfortable position.

Plans needed to be made. For all he knew, Kuroba would very well go and get himself hurt again, maybe even killed, and right now they didn't have the time for that. "Ran-neechan, go get the others. We'll meet at the edge of the forest. I have no idea when the boats are leaving and we haven't had any trouble around a campfire yet."

"Sure. I'm don't know if you should go alone though. Come with me and we can get them. If someone is attacking our group, or thinks we shouldn't be here, it would be safer if we were all together. You're not going to go after him, right?"

"I'm not." Conan touched the top of Hirai's head and opened the door, telling the little guy what to do as he flew off. "But it's better not to lose him too. You're right we should stick together. Let's go."

…

Conan would have liked it better if Kuroba had been where he said he would be. The old man and Amuro, who had stopped being a wolf for a time when Conan told him what had happened, hung near the outskirts of the town, food and anything else they would need on their person. Hattori had been hard to find. Wherever he had gone too, Conan didn't think they would have time to hunt him down under Kuroba's timetable.

Kuroba, either being the thief he truly was or because the game allowed it, was near silent except for the brushing sound a bush made not far from them as he stepped beside them soon after they were mostly together. It kind of looked like he had done it on purpose so that they noticed him.

"What were you doing?"

"Getting my stuff back. They want to steal it then they should have no issues about me stealing it in return from them." Pulling on the unique belt Kuroba had had made in the last town, Conan could once more see the darts lining it down the side, as well as the flash of a few weapons at his side when Kuroba moved his cloak.

"You're going to get us in trouble," he spoke, mostly as a sigh than words. For all the things that he could fault Kid on, stealing weapons that would keep them alive didn't make the top of the list.

"Be glad I'm stopping here. I was thinking or finding those bandits that we ran into last night and getting them on our side. I hate the people here more than I thought possible and I'm doing my utmost not to fall in line with their enemies. We might need a ship."

"Unfortunately they're not fans of ours so, if you do, try not to involve us." Amuro tipped his head back to the woods. "Even standing here is a bit dangerous. They don't like to come out when there's light but I wouldn't put it past them."

Kuroba nearly growled when their eyes met. "You don't get to tell me to do anything. You knew full well that they didn't accept elves outside of the norm here. You would rather walk around as a wolf, something so much weaker than what you can do as an elf, and risk your life if there was an attack because of the fact that you _knew_ the villagers here would be worse than any bandits out there. Why you didn't _say_ anything about that, I'd really like to know. I would have made sure Hakuba-kun was at least not _seen_ either!"

"You do _not_ get to put the blame on me." There _was_ a growl with Amuro's words, and they were spoken so deep that it was hard to believe that he'd uttered them. "I walk around as a wolf because I can't fully control when I change. If I'm already a wolf it doesn't happen. What do you think the people here would have done to a _werewolf_? Whatever grievances I noticed when I haven't been a wolf I thought were purely based on the fact that I had human blood. I didn't think your friend would be in any more danger than you did."

Kid took in and let out a breath, looking like he'd let the argument end there. It seemed like the both of them were getting close to turning on one another and, being small _and_ weaker than both of them, Conan knew there wouldn't be much he could do to stop them.

"You know, there was something that I want to at least clear that up. When we first met you the other day, you said you defaulted to a werewolf. Ran-chan mentioned also that, even though there's a way to cure this, you didn't take it. There are only two reasons you wouldn't have. Either you wanted to remain a werewolf, which wouldn't be a terrible idea if you wanted to remain a fighter… or you knew that you couldn't cure it. I assumed the game cursed you, but thinking on it a while, I'm no so sure now."

"I've bitten them before," Amuro acknowledge with a shrug. "If I'm infectious, I wouldn't know. I don't leave anything I bite alive aside from them."

Ran took a step forward from his side, closer to Kuroba who had kept himself a bit separated from the group still. "He's only bit my dad a few times, he never got me, but we never turned into werewolves or anything."

"And what's your constitution, Mouri-san? A plus?"

Conan had to blink a few times when the old man went into the menu and knew what Kuroba was talking about.

Kuroba nodded to Amuro. "Yours too."

The blond man sighed, opening his window as well, though what he was looking at, Conan couldn't see. "Let me check."

"Plus one."

Kuroba waited a second before Amuro closed his window. "Same."

"So it's a fifty-fifty chance if you would get infected or not, assuming you can spread it. If you don't know which kind you are, and there's more of us around, I'd rather you not fight. Not to be mean or anything, but I don't want to be salivating over a bloody corpse anytime soon."

Conan's whole body tensed when a deep growl came from Amuro. He doubted the man had meant to do it, or could even do it at all under normal circumstances. It sounded low and husky and so much like a noise a human shouldn't make.

"I said I didn't mean it in a negative way."

"We really need to get Hakuba-kun back," Conan spoke up seriously, glaring at the thief himself. "For some reason you hold your tongue around him a lot more than you do us."

"Really? I guess I'll have to remedy that. You're right though." Kuroba cupped his hands and shouted at the town. "We're leaving now! It looks like we might have left something behind! It would be nice to get it back!"

They all waited, Conan unsure of what they were doing. They did have to head out since the only other town they knew of was a danger. Hakuba could make it so they could survive in the forest long enough to get a plan together, and it was better they _were_ together. Hattori was entirely human and should have no problem getting information on them while they waited nearby.

Amuro shuddering caught his attention long before the villagers did. It wasn't as if he couldn't look at the man, and ignoring the fact that something was bothering him badly enough that he couldn't stop the motion wasn't something to ignore. Slit eyes met his own and, whether the man had intended to do it or not, he lifted the side of his mouth as if to bare his teeth which were far more pointed than Conan ever remembered seeing them…

"Calm down."

Amuro turned on Mouri who had his arms loose at his side, in his pockets. They stared at one another for a few seconds, long enough for Conan to notice that the blond's newly pointed ears were now higher on his head and furry.

"I said calm down." The word weren't screamed but they were loud and Conan winced, watching a few others do the same.

It was enough to startle the other man but not for long, hands tightening at his side and he could see how long and _black_ his nails were.

Ran wasn't as drawn to the confrontation as he was, digging in her bag next to him. She pulled out the small music box that he had seen her briefly mess around with that morning, opening it and letting the calm music of some piano piece that he couldn't place for once spread around them.

The man whined, like a dog, far too high for any of the others to imitate. Unafraid of anything happening to her, Ran went over and reached up, her small form half the height of Amuro's now, lightly touching his wrist. "It's okay."

"Tsh. Do you have to go through this _all_ the time? Looks like you're used to it." Kuroba shrugged, though his arms had unfolded and he'd placed one on his hip, ready to draw a weapon. "This is why I don't want to have a werewolf with us."

"It's not his fault-"

"Shut up."

Everyone shut up, Amuro's words mostly growled out syllables that were barely recognizable. The blond sat down besides Ran, one kneed up and resting his hand and head on it as he took in a few breaths.

The only one to move was Mouri, the man going to stand between Kuroba and Amuro. That surprised Conan a little bit, but the two of them had already told him that Amuro was unsteady. None of them had a chance to talk to Kuroba about it, though he hardly cared what the thief had to say at this point.

It was more or less his fault they were all stuck here.

After a minute or two Amuro calmed down, sitting up. It looked like he was back to normal though for now. Smiling at Ran and patting her hand where it rested on his forearm, he spoke softly, no trace left of the wolf in his word. "He's right."

"Huh?"

"He's right. I've turned on you before, I'll likely turn on you again. The town really doesn't care if I'm here or not and, as a wolf, I don't usually get mad like that. Now that there are others here, you two should go with them. I'll stay here."

"Out of the question."

They all turned to Mouri who, looking rather imposing with horns and a tail now, didn't look like he'd budge on the subject.

"Why? I think it's a better idea too, and he agrees." Kuroba waved a hand at them.

"Because if it were me and I was half crazy, and sorry Amuro-san, but you are, I wouldn't want someone to leave me alone in a town being attacked almost daily with townsmen that won't even let me turn back to normal and be able to so much as _speak_ to anyone. I might fight it, because I'd be half crazy, but I'd have to be downright heartless being the sane one in this and leaving you here."

"What if I am contagious?" Amuro stood, a bit shaky. "In truth we don't even know, and I wouldn't want to spread this. It's not… its not very pleasant."

Kuroba was the one who sighed, drawing their attention to him. "If we make it to a big town odds are they'll have a cleric who can cure it, so it wouldn't be for long. There might even be one here, if you wanted to look into it before we leave, but I doubt they'd help with your mixed blood." The thief shrugged, not looking at any of them. "Just saying."

"So it wouldn't be all that dangerous being around you even if you are." Ran smiled, letting go of Amuro now to stand back by him. Conan tried not to blush when she held his hand instead, clicking the music box shut with her other.

"I do recall you saying something along those lines when you were attacked by the last animal."

They all turned, Conan and the others having been paying attention to Amuro that most had missed Hakuba walking up to them. Even with his hood up and his face hard to see, it was impossible to miss the smirk on his face. "Oh, do go on. It's not as if I wasn't just abducted or anything."

"Are you okay?" Any discontent between Amuro and Kuroba seemed buried for the time being as the thief went over to Hakuba, checking the detective over. The thief would have better eyes than Conan would, but he was curious as well. Kuroba hadn't faired so well, and that was just an hour previous.

"Sore and unarmed, aside from my bow." Hakuba pulled on the strap that was holding his bow to his back, the red tails of the quivers just visible over his shoulder. "But I don't see getting my swords back as all that important."

"Here." Kuroba pulled out and tossed the other a dagger. "It's something. If I had a sword I'd give it to you but I'm probably going to need mine. I have extra daggers."

"Appreciated." Hakuba slipped the dagger into his belt. "So, can someone explain to me what is going on?"

"It'll have to wait."

Attention was back on Amuro though the blond wasn't facing them. He was looking into the forest, a hand going to the rapier that he didn't normally carry at his side. Like Hattori, Ran and Amuro both had shields that were hung around their back, and both drew them so they were holding them.

" _An enemy?_ " Conan tried to ask as quietly as he could. Hattori still wasn't with them and he hadn't had a chance to figure out where he went.

Ran didn't even turn to him, though she nodded, her eyes darting around and trying to find the danger.

It didn't take long, the elf from the other night stepping out from behind a grove of trees, walking over to them and smirking. Beside him was another elf, this one of the same, darker skin, though he was thinner and his clothing, though decadent, was in shades of only blue. Nearly a dozen other elves flanked them, leaning against trees with weapons drawn and smirks on their faces. "I think it's time we've paid you back for all the trouble you've caused."

There was no talking, no waiting to see what would happen like Conan would have expected in a battle where there was intelligence on both sides. There was simply action as the first one to move, surprisingly, was Mouri. For having a long cloak and new appendages, he moved fast. A stick to the face and a punch the to gut made the man who they had run into last night cough, Conan turning to watch as Amuro whispered words and that sounded far more harsh then they should have.

Whatever it was, Conan was used to seeing spells fail and, judging by the fact that the most that happened in those few seconds was the other man in the blue clothes shaking his head, he had to guess it had.

The bandit leader and his new crone weren't so stationary. Being two leaders on just one guy, Mouri put up more of a fight than he would have given the old man credit for before passing out.

Ran was at his side still, a hand moving to take hold of his as she tried to keep hold of her shield, Conan going to his belt, looking around and realizing they didn't have Hattori still and they _needed_ him for something like this.

Whether Kuroba and Hakuba noticed that they matched one another as they moved, he wasn't sure. All he was sure of was that Hakuba couldn't shoot worth a damn in the daylight and, being next to the thief and the leader of the bandits, he was putting himself in a really bad place to help the stupid rogue.

Hakuba missed, the leader swatting aside his bow as if it were an annoying fly at such close a range. Kuroba though took advantage of this like only the thief could, spilling blood freely as he did.

There was terror there, in the leader's eyes, like Conan had never seen before. The others elves were angered instead.

And the thief was the main target of this anger.

Dodging as many crossbows as he did was impressive until one got him in the side, slowing him down while two more hit him in the shoulder and arm, Conan winced as Kuroba barely managed to keep his feet, tearing one of the arrows out of his arm.

While he could have done something to hit more of them, taking out the elf that was behind all this seemed the best idea. A few words and a simple movement and darts of light were flying, drawing more blood with them, making the wounds that Kuroba had given him worse.

"You little bastards!"

Ran whispered something in return, something Conan thought was a swear as he turned to her and realized it must be some kind of spell, her weapon glowing in this really pretty, white light…

Then she was running and missed with the war hammer she was holding that was nearly her own size, near tripping over her father since everyone had the same idea that Conan had had, and that was to go after the leader first and deal with the rest later.

Amuro, having missed with whatever the spell he had been going for earlier, went with the spell that he had instead used the other day.

And ow, did it hurt, Conan having his hands free and the only one of the group able to cover his ears as a shrill noise made it way through the forest.

Ran whimpered, several bandits falling to the floor, clutching their hands to their ears as they dropped their weapons and literally passed out for the pain the sound was causing them.

The leader, whimpering himself a little and unable to block his ears, glared at the one making the sound but the fear there was far more obvious than it had been before and he looked less like he wanted to fight and more like he wanted to run.

"I'm sorry, Ran-san." Amuro dropped his hand, looking apologetically at her as Ran seemed to get her senses back together.

"I'm fine."

"I can see why Brivara here didn't want to take your group on by himself. My name is Stavan, and I'm leader of the Red Blades to the north of here." The elf in blue drew his curved sword, pointing it at Amuro. "And I'll be your death."

For all his posturing, the other leader missed every swing he took, Amuro showing off how nimble he could be when he wasn't wounded.

Looking around and finding he had no place to go without leaving himself open, the fear turned into madness and he went after the Kuroba, who was the most injured and barely keeping himself standing as it was.

The crazy guy even stabbed him a few times after the thief was already down and clearly not up to any sort of fight.

"Stop it!"

Eyes were on him and Conan didn't care. Fine, it was a game that wasn't a game, and they should likely be treating everyone as if they were as real as the rest of the, but Kuroba wasn't even conscious!

Hakuba couldn't do much, the arrow he got this time at least tearing a bit of the elf's clothes as it went by, distracting him more from the thief at his feet.

Another hail of arrows came at them as the bandits finished loading their crossbows, Conan more jumping out of the way and nearly falling down as he did as two came at him. If it weren't for Hakuba making a small sound of pain and drawing his attention he would have missed the arrow that he, like Kuroba, pulled out of his arm and threw to the floor.

Conan wasn't going to let that bandit live. He'd killed the other one accidentally last night. This one, this one wasn't human. He may have looked like a human but he wasn't. Angry and with the ability to put him down like the dog he was, Conan repeated his spell, knowing it wouldn't miss and watching as the crazy leader of this rag-tag group of bandits finally fell to the ground.

The other elf leader only laughed as his comrade died, sneering at them all in turn, still as confident as he was when the battle started. "I suppose my territory just got bigger. Your choice, whether you stay in it as my slaves or as my mulch."

"Just shut up," Conan found himself muttering, a few eyes turning to look at him. Friendly eyes. Eyes that came from those around him and were clearly worried about him.

Ran didn't waste time letting the elf talk though, getting him right in the gut with her hammer and Conan watched it glow once more. It seemed, somehow, that the light coming from it was different this time. He couldn't say how but he felt it was. The light hurt him almost as much as the blow seemed too, making the cocky leader choke on his words in the literal sense.

Still not drawing his weapon, Amuro spoke short and brief, almost seeming to shimmer slightly in the sun as he did.

Conan had to blink, watching the old man sit up and rub a hand into his hair, cursing quietly to himself.

"You alright, Mouri-san?"

"I'll be fine," he replied gruffly, going to stand up while the elf in blue glared at the healer, clearly just as unused to seeing healing he was.

Amuro simply smiled back as the sword was raised against him, lifting his hand once more and speaking something soft, something he couldn't hear even with his great hearing.

The newly deemed leader on the other hand seemed to her perfectly well, his eyes glowing wide as whatever Amuro was saying to him seemed to scare him terribly - Terribly enough that, even with his earlier attitude, he turned and tried to _run away_ from the blond man.

Ran wasted no time hitting the elf in the back as he fled, the other tripping but continuing on as if simply being near Amuro was causing him pain. It took the elf a second to shake it off, staring at them as he raised his sword again, not looking as sure this time. The few remaining archers around them hesitated, looking to their leader.

"You can run. We won't stop you." Amuro flicked his fingers at him, a smirk on his face. "But if you insist on annoying us like Bravira, you'll meet his same fate."

Hakuba raised his bow as if to state that fact clearly. The elf wasn't hurt as badly as some of their own teammates, but they had far more standing and ready to fight.

"So be it." The elf lifted the side of his face as if to snarl at them. "But I guarantee that you will pay, one way or another." He turned, his cloak of sapphire flickering behind him in the speckled sunlight entering the forest, and left with the others.

Conan let out a breath, sitting down. That was… intense. And he wasn't hurt for once which was a plus.

Kuroba was hurt pretty bad though and he watched Ran go over to him, placing her hands on him and staring at them as they glowed like they had before. "I can at least get him conscious."

Only Kuroba's injuries didn't seem to be healing and he didn't wake up.

"Amuro-san, am I doing something wrong? I didn't remember needing a spell for this and I made sure to stabilize him first. I should have kept a few points from earlier like you always told me to do."

"Let me see." The tone he used was calm, like a teacher, and he kind of wished, once more, that they'd wound up together. They could have shared so much information.

Conan came over to watch, expecting them to go over something in a menu he couldn't see, not watch the blond go about it as if this were the real world, checking wounds and a pulse.

"I had been wondering…" Amuro stood, shrugging and closing his eyes. "There might not be a way to heal him. He got hurt pretty badly when he was down and Bravira got him. He might just be dead."

"Yep!" came a happy little voice behind him, everyone turning, a few drawing weapons, as a little girl stood just feet from them, clapping.

"Hey, it's-"

"It's me," the girl acknowledged with a bigger smile and a tip of her head. Conan hadn't seen many little kids and it was hard to miss the witch girl that started all of this. "You did just what I wanted you to do. I knew he'd get killed some way or another. I should have led these bandits to you instead of the last ones. They didn't do so good."

"He's not really dead, right?" Conan looked between the two, the thief with a splash of blood on his face and mostly turned away from him where he was laying, the girl still giddy.

"Oh, he's really dead. I could fake this, but I didn't want to fake you guys. It was really hard to get you all here and it would have been a waste if it was only pretend. Here." She snapped her fingers and stepped back. A portal of some swirling blackness opened where she had been standing. "You can go back home now."

They all stood there, silent, waiting for something to break. What it would be, Conan wasn't sure. Right now he was having a hard time trying to figure out what just happened.

Hattori came through the trees, cursing them under his breath. "Runnin' off wit'out me. Least I couldn't mistake that sound." Hazel, innocent eyes passed over them all, confused. "Wha'd I miss?"


End file.
